


Turning Point

by Kircheis



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, ArdyNoct will be main focuse of story, Concept written before EP Ignis, M/M, Oracle!Ardyn, Slow Burn, Slow as I am willing to take it, Some New Game+ elements, Spoilers for Whole Game, Tags and Warnings May Change, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-06
Updated: 2018-02-21
Packaged: 2018-09-22 13:06:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 36,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9608759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kircheis/pseuds/Kircheis
Summary: After all of the things that happened, he should find out what was really going on.No matter how many times they fought in Insomnia, no matter how many times he destroyed the Fallen One, he always found himself leaning against Regalia near the road to Hammerhead when he opened his eyes.Circle, with no end; a snake eating its own tail.Everything that had to happen was before them. Their destiny, which he couldn’t change even after all that time, waiting with its arms opened, silently watching their steps towards the bitter end once again.‘But what if ..... What if he could change this, he could stop Ardyn at the very beginning? In the past Lucis.Change the past to.... bring completely new future. Everything would be different, right?’***Noctis should learn that ‘What if’ NEVER goes the way ANYONE wants. And especially when it involves Ardyn of all people.----(Based on idea I got from this amazingKink Meme Prompt)





	1. Chapter 1

  
_He could hear Prompto’s laughter as he dodged attack of mountain and took out his camera just to snap a better photo of that monstrosity. Gladio growled, yelling at blond to focuse, striking the moving monster with his Tempest, Noctis finishing attack with hard blow to its side._  
_And then there was voice of Ignis, shouting at them to turn around and run to get to safety as mountain came closer, crushing the land under its massive feet._  
_Of course, they escaped. They just shrugged it off, laughing at it later, thinking about it as another adventure on the road to get to their real goal._  
_He could hear laughter of his friends, cheerful voice of Prompto and…-_  
  
_Blur. Darkness. Flashing of fire, sound of weapons, swords clashing…._  
  
_“What will you do now? Banish the daemons and bring peace? Erase me from a history once more?”_  
_“This time you can rest in peace… Close your eyes… Forever more.”_  
_There was a soft smile on other’ man lips as he closed his eyes, his form slowly disappearing with small lights radiating from his body._  
_“I will wait for you in the Beyond….”_  
  
***

  
He gasped and opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling. This thing again. After every journey to the past Lucis he experienced, this had to come back every time at the end.  Maybe some side effect that Gentiana haven’t mentioned while introducing the power that Umbra possessed to him?  
Was it just a nightmare messing around with his mind?  
Then why it felt so real? He would swear that he could almost feel it on his skin.    
Flashbacks of burning feeling tingling on his hand as he felt power of Ring to consume him, Izunia’s dark eyes that could no longer belong to any human being shining in the light of Crystal, the feeling of peace when the Ring of his father shattered into millions of pieces... It felt like the story was over.  
That everything was finally as it should be and even his soul was finally at peace but.... was it?  
He frowned and shook his head.

_‘Those had to be just some side effects from stress. ’_

Situation in the land wasn’t the brightest and everything was on his shoulders.  
And people around Noctis expected big things from him. Soon, he was about to come to official meeting with Camelia Claustra – the first secretary of Accordo. It was on him as a current King of Lucis to negotiate terms and make positive impression that could help them in their move during waking up of the Hydraen, the astral known for her raging powers of sea.

But for now, here he was, alone in one of the rooms in Altissia with only grey dog sleeping right beside his bed.

Prompto desperately wanted to get some nice shots of city floating on river; Ignis went out to get some new ingredients and insisted on Noctis getting some rest. Gladio probably went for a little stroll, because he didn’t want to slack off with his training, not even here.  
He sighed and gently patted dog’s head. Umbra looked up, eyeing him curiously, wiggling his tail.  He smiled slightly, glancing at notebook tied to his back.  
During all of those years it was the only way how he could keep in contact with Luna. And now, finally, he was going to meet her, face to face, bring back marriage as a sign of hope and finally, FINALLY bring the conflicts to an end.  
It sounded almost like a Utopia, dream that could never come true but… They’ve come so far and all of the struggles come always to end, no?  
Still, he had that strange feeling eating his insides like Starscourge - like it all happened already, like they were literally running through some story that was told in circles, only to bring them to bitter end and then back to beginning.  
To give them hope and then crush it, once, twice…  With no way out of it.  
He shrugged, trying to get that idea of his mind.  
  
_The sound of roaring waves , shrieking of Leviathan, majestic astral as he collided with her during one of the warp strikes, pain in his head and the glimpse of red hair…_  
_Blood, loss, sadness…_  
_Blue flowers in the field and her gentle voice._  
_She loved them. Watched them grow in Tenebrae._  
_It was the only thing left after Imperium overtook their country._  
_Gentle smile fading into the darkness of ocean._  
_Leaving behind only heavy feeling of responsibility and guilt._  
_And that goddamn ring._  
  
He hissed and clutched the frame of bed. Umbra whined silently. He shook his head, trying to get the flashing colors out of his sight. What the hell?  
“It’s okay, buddy. Just a headache. ” He smiled slightly at dog and stood up carefully, stretching, going to window, watching the water glimmering in light of the morning.  
He sighed.  It was about the time to gather party and go, they couldn’t waste any more of it. The summoning would take place soon. They had to be ready.  
He frowned and took his coat, fixing it in place. Kingly Raiment. His father told him to use it for a marriage and official purposes but…  He couldn’t even remember properly when he changed to it. Was it some kind of official meeting? No, probably not, they didn’t encounter anyone who was important in political field (Beside Chancellor Izunia but to be perfectly honest, he would rather forget that meeting) until now. Well, he could also cross out drinking night with Ignis behind their backs looking after their diets. So the only thing left was that it just….. Appeared on him? Them, since guys wore their brand new Kingsglaive outfits too. He snorted. That really sounded ridiculous, like some ghost story his father told to him when he was kid.

 _The soft light of fireplace. Small chat, smell of Ignis’ home cook meal._  
_He started to cook again, during these 10 long years, huh?_  
_Cold and dark night, with daemons lurking around but…_  
_Warm feeling inside of his chest and … gratefulness._  
_For every moment with them he could cherish._  
_For all the time they’ve spent together._  
_In good. In bad. During the storm or nice day._

Now he found himself on the floor, with Umbra licking his face. And Gladio in the doors.  Just great.  
“Noct! Are you okay?”  
“Couldn’t be better.” He shifted slightly on his elbow, blinking.  
“Yeah, of course, you really look like that, clever mouth.” He grabbed him by arms and helped him to stand up.  “What happened?”  
He opened his mouth, to tell him.

_‘But really, how ridiculous it sounded? It couldn’t be real, right? They had no time to waste, with Summoning behind doors on some…. Dreams. ‘_

He shook his head and sighed.

“Just a headache.”  
“Your last headache caused an awakening of Titan in Duscae and as ado we got bunch of MTs from Imperial troops that tried to sabotage us. I’m not even speaking about that weird  Chancellor.”  
“I still remember that clearly, thank you for reminding me.”  
Gladio snorted silently. “We should get ready. Prompto and Ignis are waiting downstairs.”  
“Yeah, yeah.”  
He just glanced at dog next to him, who wiggled his tail.  
“Wait here, buddy.” He sighed, looking back at Gladio and nodding, following him out of doors.

***  
  
“So, how it went?“ Gladio looked at Noctis concerned. Boy sighed, crossing his arms.  
“She promised to help us. Man was right yesterday. She may seem as a strict woman, but it looked like we were able to get her on our side. For a while, at least. “ He looked at Ignis. “She is worried about the outcome of summoning for her citizens. She doesn’t want to get involve in a war but she wants Empire to be destroyed – well, same as we do.”  
“I get it you promised her our help during the evacuation in case of problems.” Ignis nodded slightly, watching Noctis, who nodded too.  
“Aw, Noct being gentleman at his best always.”  
Gladio snorted and Noctis gently slapped Prompto’s arm, shaking his head. Ignis fixed his glasses.  
“It cannot be helped if we want to earn her trust, I suppose. Also it’s your duty as King to help other nations and earn good political relationships and future experience in this field.“  
“Yeah yeah. I know. “  
“Very well then.” Ignis looked at other.  
Gladio stretched.  
“We should split. Me, Iggy and Prompto will cover your back so you can get to Leviathan without any problems…”  
“… As well as we will help during evacuations of citizens in case things go wrong. Your goal is to get to the Hydraen before Imperial forces could sabotage the summoning in any way and obtain the blessing. We will keep in touch in case of emergency.” Ignis finished for him.  
“Yeah! We will be right there if you need us, Noct! You can count on us.” Prompto beamed.  
Raven haired boy smiled, nodding.  
“People are already gathering for Lady Lunafreya’s speech.” Gladio glanced at the crowd. “Time to get to the work.”  
Others nodded.  
“Let’s go.”  
  
_Gladio’s glare. His words stabbing him right to his soul._  
_Useless. Acting as coward._  
_Unable to protect the ones he loves._  
_Regret._  
_Others got it worse._  
_His friend left in the darkness after…_

They looked at him, watching him in silent surprised.  
_‘What was-?! ‘_  
Oh. He didn’t realize he grabbed Ignis by his arm, looking at him with wide eyes.  He frowned and let go of him, looking away.

 _‘Don’t go there.’ A small voice nudging in his mind._  
  
“Sorry. I just… Be careful, guys.”  
They looked at him confused, but didn’t tell anything, just nodded, adding “Be careful” as well.  
He watched their backs slowly disappearing in the mass of people that was getting bigger with every little moment.

***

He realized that… He knew how this was going to happen.  
It took him just time of one hit by Leviathan and colliding with sharp stones on the floor to realize he already … Saw this. Felt this on his skin before.  
Relived this moment?  
He watched Luna trying to save him and then… the red glimpse of hair from his, as he realized later, visions or maybe even fragment of memories.

 _Ardyn stabbing Luna… Him, laying there powerless to stop him._  
_Her courage even on the verge of death that stopped the Leviathan from her raging and helped him to obtain blessing – oh but for what price?_  
_His dream of her, shining in the never ending fields of those beautiful blue flowers…_  
_And the ring. Ring that brought down on them only sorrow and pain._  
_It was same. All of it. Every second._  
  
As soon as he opened his eyes, Noctis knew that he would find it, clutching it in his palm. He knew, right after Ignis opened the doors, a cane in his hand and a scar on his face, partially hiding behind glasses with dark visors.

_He knew that he saw this scenario before._

***

After all of the things that happened, he should find out what was really going on.   
No matter how many times they fought in Insomnia, no matter how many times he destroyed the Fallen One, he always found himself leaning against Regalia near the road to Hammerhead when he opened his eyes.  
He heard Prompto’s whining, a music from radio; saw Gladio crossing his arms and Ignis fixing his glasses behind the wheel.  He felt the sun on their backs, heat radiating from asphalt.

Everything that had to happen was before them. Their destiny, which he couldn’t change even after all that time, waiting with its arms opened, silently watching their steps towards the bitter end.

_Again.  
Circle, with no end; a snake eating its own tail. _

But they…. They didn’t remember any of it. Not even slightest fragment.  They still thought there is a chance for a happy ending.  
They were still playing cards, Prompto cheerfully laughing as he won another round of game or as he took another great photo, excited about lighting in his pictures; Ignis collecting recipes and Gladio enthusiastically signing in for taste testing.  
They didn’t have to think about future they didn’t know.  
Noctis stood up from his bed and opened the doors of caravan silently so he wouldn’t wake anyone up, going outside. Fresh night breeze caressed his hair and face.  Somewhere in distance he could hear howling of daemons, a light or darkness radiating from their forms, creating small dots on the dark horizon.  
And suddenly, in the silence of night, even with memories and his best friends close to him once more, Noctis felt….  
Alone.  
Alone with responsibility of _KNOWING_.  
No matter what would he try to do to avoid the events, he knew that in the end, his friends would persuade him to do the right thing as a King.  
He snorted bitterly.

_Right thing, huh? His duty._

He looked down.  
There was silent tapping of paws on the pavement. Noctis looked around.  A dog with grey fur was walking close to him in dim light of lamp, a small notebook tied to his back. He cocked his head to the side and barked.  
“….Umbra?”  
Dog whined silently. Noctis crouched next to him and gently stroke the fur, patting dog’s head.  
‘ _Umbra – The Shadow. Well, he really does remind me of one_.’  He smiled softly, untying the  notebook and opening it, looking at message from Luna.  
Oh, how he wished he could write down everything he had in mind. How he could change the future for everyone, including her, for better. Rewrite the whole history. It sounded so … grand, didn’t it? But if there was any way, at least to end this whole story he-….!

_“What will you do now? Banish the daemons and bring peace? Erase me from a history once more?”_

Ardyn’s voice resonated in his mind. He frowned.

_‘Erase him…. From history?’_

He remembered the tale that red haired man told him. About the Chosen One that just wanted the best for his country two thousand years ago.  
To heal thousands of people and help them escape a destiny that was even worse than death. And for what?! For them to demonize him?  
He would almost pity him not for everything he had done to his closest.  
But….What has he become? Driven by revenge after he fell from his grace when Astrals saw him unclean, when Crystal refused him…? He said it alone.

_Monster._

_‘But what if .. He could change this? What if this never happened…? What if he could stop him at the very beginning? In the past Lucis. Change the past to.... bring completely new future. Everything would be diffrent, right?’_  
  
He frowned

_Past Lucis._

He clutched notebook and looked at Umbra.

“I think, I will need your help, attaboy.”  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thank you everyone for reading the first chapter of this story! I truly appreciate this and I hope that you excuse me for mistakes I made in text, since I’m not native speaker and unfortunately, I don’t have BETA reader that is native speaker (but I really have to thank my lovely [Pumatina](http://sassy-salty-sarcastic-satan.tumblr.com) who did great job anyway and thanks to her I was able to eliminate some!  
> Well, my first story into FF XV category.  
> As soon I found the prompt on the kink-meme, this idea was occupying my mind so I told myself: “Why not? Let’s try this.” Let me warn you, this will be one monster of fan fiction probably (And I really really hope that I’ll be able to finish it.) with tons of headcanons in.  
> What else should I say about this story?  
> First of all, Noctis, ‘What if…?’ is always start of things going terribly wrong and different from way you planned. Especially with Ardyn around.  
> Another thing is, as you’ve probably noticed in the tags, this is canon divergent story (and yes, we are kind of ignoring the after credits scene, sorry, Noct) –I changed/added some events a bit as same as things in canon, for example - Umbra is now able to travel to the past in general – not just to memories that are tied to our favorite Chocobros and more. This is going to happen in future too.  
> I would say this story is going to get even AUish – especially in future chapters (Time Travel, YAY!).  
> Also, for those who are wondering! NO, Ardyn and Noctis ARE NOT family in this fic. You will see my explanation for events later. :)  
> Also, it’s obvious now that I’m playing with small aspects inspired by New Game +.  
> Anyway, once again, thank you for reading the first part of this story and this long monster of notes - and I really hoped you enjoyed it!  
> If you have any questions/suggestions or you just want to scream with me about this game (Also, have I mentioned that Ardyn might be my fave antagonist in series????NO????) and FF in general (or any other fandom we have in common, really), I have [Tumblr](http://aryssiamatsuri.tumblr.com) (and [Art Blog Thingy](http://kircheisintheworld.tumblr.com), where I’ll be probably illustrating this thing, but who knows, I just want to try my hand at it too) - so I’ll be really happy to see you there!


	2. Chapter 2

_“‘- Sound of bells echoed around the new main city of Lucis, Insomnia._

_After The Great War of Gods, the Starscourge striked the land, swallowing it slowly – day by day, putting its end to ancient civilization of Solheim. A mortal man fought alongside Astrals and blessed by Bahamut alone, he received the divine powers, all mighty Crystal and Ring of Lucii …_  
_Bahamut granted the blessing to two lines – those of Fleuret, creating the first Oracle and those of Lucis Caelum – to guard crystals._

_To rule wisely, watch over Eos._

_Because of the help of these royal families and the borrowed powers of Gods, people were able to rebuild new nations from ashes of Solheim – Niflheim, Lucis, Tenebrae and Accordo, even during difficult times. Because there was a hope hidden in Legends about the True King._  
_Chosen by Astrals to finally end dark times. ‘_

  
_It sounds so sweet and idealistic, doesn’t it? All of these extracts from ancient Chronicles. People waiting for their savior that was about to come two thousand years later. For you, Noctis…_

 _But let me tell you one thing._  
_Every history has its own chapter that is scrapped and kept hidden, erased not only from every book in Library but from whole universe. A tale you shall never discover._  
_Because it’s not the truth they want you to see._  
_So…What if I told you that even before that well known First Chapter, there was another one,_  
_now whispered only between daemons and those who are Accursed?_

 _It simply started with people gathering on the streets, cheering for one simple man, believed to be Chosen one._  
_“He will get rid of Starscourge, he will save our nation like Gods promised us.” You could hear them whisper._  
_So many hopes and dreams of whole nations were put on the shoulders of someone, who you would call Oracle – and current crown King of nation._  
_And even though the number of people struck with the Starscourge was still high, TODAY, today they could go out and cheer._  
_Because they believed that soon, all the evil will be banished from this world and finally, the new morning will come._

_It’s ironic, isn’t it? That the story like this, the one of fairytales, can change in the matter of seconds into tragedy spreading its poison not only into the few next days or months but years and maybe centuries._

_Story that too, started with two lines. “_

  * _Pages of old battered diary scattered around the Zegnautus Keep after King Noctis’ disappearance, few days before whole Eos succumbed to 10 long years of endless night, consumed by Starscourge_



*******

Noctis looked around, amazed. Well, to be perfectly honest, he was looking around amazed for few hours by now, passing through streets of capital.

He might have known Insomnia and the cold walls of Citadel to every speck of dust as Crown Prince, its history to every little word that could be found in the books of his teachers and even though he often complained (especially to Prompto, who seemed to be the only one, who didn’t remind him of his King’s duties and eagerly nodded to every idea that sounded at least a bit like fun) that he was tired of it; he couldn’t help but silently admire it in current situation.

Of course, metropolis stacked with skyscrapers and brand new technology with few ecosystems of different variety to prosper from was a dream comes true for some, but given the situation – the War with Niflheim and complete isolation behind the Crystal’s Wall- the infrastructures outside of it were far from developed and other Lucis’ regions stretched to a vast and desolate wasteland, creating great contrast between the Capital and rest of nation.

But now, as the Crown City without any of walls hiding it from rest of world seemed  to be almost part of  wild nature spreading far around, with just the freshly built Citadel rising above the land; Insomnia 2000 years ago without usual metallic shine appeared even more monumental than ever before.  
  _(‘…or after. Figure of speech.’)_

The modern roads full of cars, lined with lamps disappeared - exchanged for more dusty ones, fit for Chocobos, which were the only fast transport between regions back then. You could see them not only in stables located close to the Citadel, but also on the small marketplace - which was now full of Lucian people - almost next to every stall.  
It reminded him of Lestallum’s one Iris showed him.   
It seemed so lively, coping with threats of Starscourge quite well (‘ _Maybe because of power of the new Crystal?’)._  
Kiosks full of small boxes. What could be inside? Ordinary ingredients for meals or some ores used for crafting? Maybe a bit from everything.  
He cocked his head to the side, going closer to one of them. A man was handing small wooden bowls of some meal to everyone. Maybe it didn’t look as stylish as food in Noctis’ time but it smelled nice nonetheless.  
“I’ve come up with a new recipe.” He mumbled under his nose and grinned.  
Specks would like this place. Colorful seasonings, fishes, vegetables ... He could imagine him looking at goods with excited eyes even though he would still act composed and calm, writing new ideas to his small notebook. Prompto would take thousands of selfies and photos of scenery and Gladio would probably need to drag him back sooner than he would get lost or accused of stealing Chocobo.  
He smiled.

_‘It will be different this time… I promise.’_

Suddenly, applause cut the air. Noctis turned his head slightly, as he noticed people around him cheering. He glanced at crowd passing through streets.

_What was going on?_

It looked like some parade, celebration, led by man on dark Chocobo, waving to people around.    
No... It wasn’t parade, not really - at least not official one.  
People created that crowd by joining man on his way through streets – children, adults…  
He seemed a bit familiar, now that Noct could see his face-

_Oh._

“Are you kidding me?”  
  
He couldn’t help but snort in disbelief. Well, he wasn’t one to blame, to be honest.  
First of all; no matter how many years had passed, Ardyn still wore those ridiculous garments with dozen scarves wrapped around him.  
Another and more surprising fact was that Ardyn looked _happy_ \- and not in his usual creepy, disturbing and twisted kind of way.  
He was radiating positive aura all around, smiling at people around and shaking their hands. And they loved him. Noctis could hear them calling out to their ‘savior’ and feel the overwhelming atmosphere around him and well, he was dragged with rest of crowd, closer and closer to Citadel. He almost wanted to join others in cheering; almost forgot why he was there in the first place, for a second.

_No. This is fake. Wake up, Noct._

He blinked, frowning slightly and stopped walking further.  
 He felt someone to bump into his shoulder from behind but he didn’t pay attention to it.  
Yes, right, he should focus. He wasn’t here for _HIS_ celebrations. He could almost hear Gladio’s voice in his head to remember his duty, like always when Noctis seemed uncertain.  
He looked up. Sun was turning orange slowly, soon the night would come.  
He was there for a reason and he should finally start to do something, anything..!  
Of course he couldn’t just step into Citadel and coldheartedly murder Ardyn with one wave of his sword – not to mention that it didn’t necessary mean that it would help in present - but he needed to find the root of problem and a way to stop things from happening again and again somehow.

_But how-?!_

He watched the sun slowly going down as the realization hit him.

_Yes, he needs to find a root of problem… And for that he needs to get close to him._

 

* * *

 

The doors of Citadel opened. Servants bowed to man who sighed, putting down a hat from head, running fingers through his hair.  
He nodded thankfully as one of them took reins of black feathered Chocobo, leading it back to its stales.

“Welcome back, My Lord.”

“Thank you.” He opened his mouth to continue, when he was interrupted by calm and firm voice.

“Look who is back. And here I thought you died somewhere in caves. ”

Ardyn looked up, his eyes meeting with those of other man and grinned.

“Oh, I wouldn’t make you that happy, don’t worry. Besides, I think we’ve fought worse things than some Reapers in the War. Or I did and you watched… and sometimes helped.”

“Of course. I think _Gods_ _were fighting_ and _we_ _watched_ or _helped_ sometimes, _Your Majesty_.”

“Maybe we could agree on that version. Also I think we are past all of these official names, _General Izunia_ , aren’t we?”

Man laughed and shook his head.

“You should change that hat to crown from time to time so you look more like a royalty. But I’m glad you are alive and well, Ardyn.”

“Same goes to you, friend. Did something important happen during my time away? “

“Yes, more than one thing, to be exact. Your journeys around Lucian regions seem to stop nights from getting longer and it also seems like Starscourge is not spreading so rapidly anymore. But we still have to be careful. I set night patrols in case there would be some dangerous daemons lurking around the Insomnia ready to attack. There also have been some volunteers for patrols and general help around land. Maybe with some training some of them could be skilled warriors and knights.”

He sighed but continued.

“Other than that, there has been some news about freshly discovered ruins in Kingdom of Tenebrae that could be other remnants of old Solheim Temples.  
Accordo is expanding on the islands, their progress is unbelievably fast - and it looks like Altissia could be one of many important trading places in future since more and more people are interested in setting down there.  
And Niflheim…  Well, the situation is still the same as before. They hardly contact us on any matter anymore. There has been no major problems nor political attacks but also no letters, no messengers, no visits from important people – nothing official. But there had been rumors.”

Izunia frowned, his lips sealed in thin line. Ardyn looked at man with curiosity in his eyes.

“They have…Their doubts about you and your role as the Chosen One.” He admitted silently. “They say you are just buying time before complete chaos. With Gods disappearing and with no information on their whereabouts... They are afraid the Six have abandoned them. Abandoned you.”

Red haired man frowned. “Niflheim is friendly as always, I see. Good to know. Is there anything else to these rumors?”

Izunia nodded. “They keep saying that even a person who fought beside the Six doesn’t have to be guarantee of peace and solution of problems. The news about recoveries are also falling on deaf ears.”

Ardyn frowned, reaching out to the air, summoning a strange looking trident out of the air. He looked at the weapon and showed it to man next to him.

“They think that Gods have abandoned them? There are messengers all around Eos! You saw Bahamut giving me his trident and some of them saw that too, it’s not like it was 1000 years ago. ” He rolled his eyes. “Do they need him to come for official audience?” He growled silently, shaking his head and let go of weapon, which disappeared into thin air.

“I think they would consider the Draconian’s visit an ideal proof of you not being fraud. Do not get me wrong, Ardyn. You have my full support as a King, no matter if Chosen One or not. And those are only rumors - just words, not actions.” General sighed. “But they _can_ slowly start a fire. It would be the best for you to find the Astrals again …”

“…and obtain their blessings and powers. So it will put down Niflheim’s doubts and for me it will help to fulfill my calling as the Chosen One,” Ardyn finished a sentence. “I understand.”

“But you are going to say that it’s not that easy.”

“There are people, who need me. And the Kingdom. This isn’t so simple.”

“Yes. That’s another reason why you should go for that journey in my opinion. And the only way to save more people. You can heal thousands of them but until you can fully stop it there will be still new and new cases of plague.” Izunia crossed his arms. “You are away most of time even now. Your advisors always did and will look over the official business for a time of your travels.”

“So you will be staying here.”

“Let me correct myself - your official advisors.”

They both laughed silently and King shook his head.

“But still… There need to be preparations done, I suppose.”

“I agree. Even though you are skilled warrior and I am as well, two people are less than little for this kind of trip, I am afraid. Also, your and my presence will be missed and not only during the night patrols but in general case of safety of Insomnia and Lucis. ”

“You’ve mentioned some volunteers before.”

“That’s what I’m talking about. They need training. And it will take some time before they will be able to fight properly but I believe, and I will repeat myself, that there are few talented. Maybe even that talented you would be able to pass your magic on them. Like in my case. We can’t leave this place without proper defense. But I need your agreement.”

Ardyn stayed silent for a while but in the end nodded.

“I guess there isn’t any other option left. Beside already mentioned Bahamut visit in Niflheim, which seems even more unlikely than Leviathan being in good mood during our future visit.”

“Indeed. I will start with their training and with recruiting of-“

“General Izunia!” Both men looked around. A young boy was running into their direction (probably one of already mentioned volunteers) with terrified expression on his face. “Y-your Majesty.” He stammered slightly as he noticed Ardyn and bowed.

“What is going on? I hope there is good reason to interrupt me in this conversation.”

“Y-yes, yes, sir! A Giant!” Boy gasped. “A Giant appeared on the streets and it’s destroying everything in its sight. There is someone fighting it!”

“Someone?!”

“Yes, we don’t know him, he doesn’t seem like an Insomnia citizen. We’ve tried to help him but we can’t get close to the monster!”

Izunia frowned and nodded. “Thank you. I’m going there –“

“We are going there to help them.” Ardyn frowned, a sword already in his hand. “You wanted all the fun for yourself, friend?” he joked but there was worried tone in his voice. “Please, show us the way.” He looked at boy who nodded and quickly turned around. “A Giant in the middle of city? Of course, it happened a lot during the War but… not now!”

“Another reason to find Astrals.” Izunia frowned and summoned his daggers, hurrying after boy, glancing at Ardyn. “As soon as possible.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was midnight when I finally finished this, I’m tired, this is unfortunately unBETAed (I'm really sorry for all mistakes and awkward English here, since I am not native speaker) but I published it! FINALLY.  
> Where do I enroll for “Becoming expert on Eos History in two long evenings, figuring out that the world is just too difficult and sometimes it doesn’t fit” Club? Also, I never knew I needed an officional art of happy Ardyn on a back of black Chocobo (C A N O N I C A L O N E) in my life but Final Fantasy XV concept arts got me covered.  
> This was one hell of difficult chapter for me to write, I have to admit.  
> First of all – the nature and general description of the Past Kingdoms. Especially Lucian one in this case. Of course Lucis and Insomnia didn’t look alike in the past especially during rebuilding of world - and I don’t think that Noctis would ignore that so I really wanted to write down some small comparison between those two. I had some images in mind (concept arts, mentioned chocobo art etc.) but the main problem was citadel. In the end I decided for it to be renewed for a King and the most important place.  
> Second of all, Eos. I swear to God I spend the most of time researching the regions, nations/kingdoms or even ecosystem and still probably, didn’t quite do a justice to lore, which I am truly sorry about. I’ll try better in the future.  
> Third. WHOLE DAMN BUSINESS WITH ARDYN, NOCTIS, ASTRALS, PROPHECY AND KINGS. Even though this story is labeled as AU / Canon Divergence, Time Travel – I wanted to keep some crucial aspects of history so it was really confusing to huge extent.  
> I had tons of questions about for example more specific time of Ardyn’s reign, how many Kings were there before him; was he the first one? If you look closer at Cosmogony it’s probably him, right? How about healers able to somehow clean the world from Starscourge and keep darkness at bay – aren’t they Oracles? That means Ardyn with his powers could be one! BUT! Here we have a problem. Oracles were born in Tenebrae, Fleuret family.  
> Ardyn was Lucis Caellum and Lucian. Headcanons and AU elements use right here.  
> And the most important thing: Noctis, Izunia and Ardyn.  
> In Izunia’s place, since we have literally almost nothing about him, the greatest struggle was the first name – I was thinking about Valtteri (=army ruler) but if you had any idea/headcanons/maybe even official information I couldn’t find anywhere, I would be really thankful if you shared it with me! I’ve decided to make him General of the newfound army and Ardyn’s close friend who helped him to fight alongside the Gods.  
> In Noctis’ and Ardyn’s case it’s the OOCness. Maybe in Ardyn’s case it’s not that big problem, since he was probably completely different person before corruption but I’m crying over Noctis. (No wait, I’m lying I’m crying over both of them.)  
> Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter at least a bit. 
> 
> ALSO HUGE THANK YOU FOR ALL THE NICE COMMENTS AND KUDOS!
> 
> They made me smile like an idiot and find motivation to finish my research and second chapter. What can I say? You, guys, are the best! ;)  
> Next time: Noctis causing scene, Not-really-Kingsglaive in progress, preparations for Chocobo roadtrip – Edition Ancient and also some problems in present! Stay tuned! :)
> 
> Scream with me on Tumblr? [Here!](http://aryssiamatsuri.tumblr.com)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To clear confusion right on the start, I've decided ‘Valtieri’ to be Izunia’s first name. Enjoy reading the third chapter!

Noctis didn’t know if fighting Giant and causing scene was actually good idea. But the monster seemed really enthusiastic about what it was doing, when it slammed Noct down to the ground so he probably didn’t have other choice.

*******

After Ardyn disappeared behind gates of Citadel, the crowd was slowly dissolving.  
It wasn’t the only reason. The last rays of sun slowly faded behind horizon, sky darkening with every second.  He knew better than to run around in night. Even Insomnia could be dangerous in this situation. He sighed.

_Observing and ‘getting closer’ parts have to wait probably…_

Maybe he should find some shelter, call for Umbra and go back to his time.  
But where? He frowned, looking down. Maybe he should just return back to that market place and look around those Chocobo stales. Or find some buildings used for refugees? Well, first of all, he didn’t know if they even had something like that here, in this time and second, his clothes would probably bring even more of unnecessary attention. People were eyeing him curiously even now and he could imagine all the questions.  
Well, it wasn’t like he didn’t figure out he would need to answer them sooner or later at some point, especially when he wanted to get closer to King. But he slowly came to realization that he needed at least some _ **real**_  plan. Determination is nice character feature and it’s first step towards the fulfilling of your goals but…

There was loud, unnatural noise as the ground started to shake. Noctis frowned interrupted from his thoughts. He quickly turned around, just to witness a huge crack on the street, darkness seeping out of it. Air filled with smell of metals and something burned, rotten, accompanied by creaking inhuman sounds.  A massive hand emerged from abyss, followed by huge body of Red Giant with flaming sword.  
It looked at Prince with its two small eyes, growling, reaching out with its hand.  
Boy managed to dodge its attack in very last second as monster slammed its fist to few kiosks close to him, sending pieces of wood and fabrics flying around. Goods scattered under their feet with rumble.  
As it noticed that Noct survived without even losing one hair on his head, it swang its arm through the air once again - now the one with flaming sword. This time it didn’t miss stales full of Chocobos, which started to screech in panic, flapping with wings and trying to escape; and some houses, mixing human’s screams into chaos as the cloud of dust raised to the night sky.

Noctis backed off quickly, coughing, reaching out with his hand, conjuring Engine Blade out of thin air. He gripped it, ready to warp at Giant, when he froze, sudden realization hitting him.

_‘I am… no King here. I shouldn’t wield Magic of the Six. Not in this time.’_

They caused a stir by now anyway, judging by panicked voices in distance. Showing people that he wielded powers that didn’t belong to him here would be just one step from suicide.  
He looked at sword in his hand, clutching it. Dust probably blocked the view for this one, but he couldn't afford to call another weapon, so...

 _This will have to do._  
  
Giant growled as it noticed Noctis again and lifted its hand. A huge mass of darkness started to form in one destroying gravity orb in monster’s palm, sucking in everything in way. Noctis hissed, stabbing sword between two stones of already destroyed stall, gritting his teeth, trying to stay on his feet.

_Think, Noctis, goddamit!_

Beast’s body was too massive for face to face fight, when he was standing against it without his friends. Adding its abilities and Noctis’ missing, this could be very easily lost battle.

_“Remember, everyone has a blind side, Noct. “_

Gladio’s voice echoed in his mind. He always told him to be one step before his enemy. And Ignis to have eyes locked on them and analyze their fighting style sooner than they would figure out yours.  
Yes, he had a disadvantage since he couldn’t use warping and it was his primary style of combat. When he put a size of Daemon in consideration, there was only one option left behind that could be used in this situation.  
Attack from behind wasn’t that high on his list of moves, but sometimes it could save lives.

_Like now._

The mass exploded and the wave of energy sent Noctis and people, who meanwhile managed to get closer with intentions of help, flying.  
Prince hissed as he fell down but managed to roll away from potential range of monster’s blade, rising to his feet once again and with help of few quick moves he slashed Giant’s knees with his sword.  
It howled, trying to turn around but raven haired man was faster, delivering another hard blow to its backside. Giant groaned and staggered. Small streams of darkness were seeping out of wounds on its body.

“Yes!” He smiled winningly and was about to cut it again, when he heard terrified scream. Some man, probably one of citizens, was lying on the ground. He was struggling against a stones that trapped his leg under ruins of one of stalls.  
Beast slowly turned its attention at human and lifted its sword, just to deliver a fatal strike.

_Shit-_

“Watch out!” Noctis snapped, running to man. He lifted his sword to block the attack but it was too late –

Or would be if a Giant wasn’t stabbed with flying weapon out of nowhere. Daemon backed off, obviously put down from guard, not knowing what hit it. A wall of circling weapons appeared around Noctis and shocked man.

“Izunia!”

Noct looked up as he heard familiar voice. Ardyn was standing close to them, his eyes focused on monster. He nodded to some man (possibly Izunia) next to him, who warped close to Giant, striking it with his daggers and used its head to bounce back and hit it again. Beast reeled, trying to maintain a balance. Man landed close to it and stepped back, waving at Ardyn.  
Red haired King raised his hand, wall lifting, numerous weapons striking Giant, who roared, disappearing into mass of darkness swallowed by ground.  
It was over.

After the danger was gone, Noctis shifted slightly, trying to stand up, but was only met with cold stare and Izunia’s dagger to his neck.

“Don’t move.” Prince frowned and raised his hand slightly. “Who are you?”

“Probably human, same as you. “

“Very funny remark, boy. You probably don’t realize your situation. Did Niflheim send you to sabotage king? What are you doing here?!”

“What-?!”

_So even they had problems with Empire…_

“ _General Izunia_ , calm down!” Ardyn’s firm voice cut the heavy atmosphere. He stood up from injured citizen, waving at some men, who were watching them from some distance. “Help him to safety, please. His injury isn’t grave and he should be okay in no time.” He smiled and then turned, looking into direction of Prince and General. “What do we have here, hm?”

"Your Majesty." Noctis glanced at injured man, the one he tried to save from Giant. “If I can say something… He tried to block the blade of monster… save my life.”  
  
“General…” King repeated himself softly.  
  
Izunia frowned. It looked like he was hesitating for a moment but in the end he nodded and stepped back from Noctis, putting daggers down  
  
“Yes, My Lord.”  
  
Still, it didn’t stop him from eyeing Noct, who looked a bit confused, with critical and suspicious expression.

_‘Izunia? Wasn’t that Ardyn’s-‘_

Noctis frowned and stood up, trying to get rid of the dust on his clothes. 

“But I have to admit I’m quite curious too, given your fighting abilities. Very few people are that… courageous… or foolish; there are two ways to call your behavior; to take on Giant in the middle of night. ” Noctis looked at Ardyn. Man was smiling as he spoke to him, but his eyes were analyzing him, watching his every move, trying to categorize him somewhere. “What is your name again?”

_Now, this wasn’t good._

 “Noctis…”

“Noctis….?”

“Yes.”  Of course, his name wasn’t the one they expected from him and he knew it very well. What should he say, Lucis Caelum? They would probably take him for crazy – and that sounded still like the most positive outcome - or traitor and let’s be honest, General would be probably very enthusiastic about finishing the job of Giant, considering his behavior toward Noct.  He frowned and then added silent: “Aulea.”

_The name of his mother…_

“Noctis Aulea is it?” Ardyn glanced at his friend.

“That name doesn’t ring any bells.” Izunia sighed. “Your Majesty, he might be dangerous. We have no proof that he isn’t some kind of daemon - or infected with Starscourge. There isn’t any way to find out.”

“I’ve seen plenty of sick people, Valtieri, and Noctis here seems very much alive and well. And you aren’t quite right. There is a way to find out.” Ardyn walked over to Noctis. “If you excuse me, may I…?” He raised his hand. Noctis frowned deeply, looking at man with hesitation, fighting the urge to step back or push his hand away. (No one could really blame him for that.) But that would cause just more problems and suspicion given the situation. In the end, he nodded.

Ardyn stepped closer, cupping Noctis’ face in his palms, leaning against Prince’s forehead with his.

_What the hell is he-?!_

He tensed, gripping Engine Blade in hand.

“Hush. Calm down.” Ardyn frowned slightly. “I mean no harm.”

_Hearing this from **your** mouth doesn’t really help. _

“Blessed Stars of life and light, deliver us from darkness’ blight.”

Noctis’ eyes widened as he heard familiar line.

_Luna-?!_

A faint green light and warm enveloped his face. It wasn’t intruding as he would except from Ardyn’s aura; it actually felt soothing. He closed his eyes, calming down; feeling aching bruises and bones to regenerate as if someone gave him precious potion.  
He gasped as Ardyn let go of him, blinking and looking around confused. Izunia was still glaring at him. People, who were getting out of their homes to see what happened in the streets, were looking curiously into their direction.

_He is…He was Oracle?! And King- ? What about Fleuret family and legends-_

He blinked. Of course. Man already mentioned that he was healer and that he absorbed many daemons back in his time but-… He didn’t really think of it further and never imagined that Ardyn could possess same powers as Luna.

“Valtieri, I believe there is no threat of Starscourge from him.” Red haired man turned at Noctis again. “And if there was some, it would be probably gone by now.”

“I…agree. But it’s still not a real reason to trust him.” General crossed his arms.  “He caused chaos-!”

“General, even Astrals caused mess when they’ve tried to put things right.” Ardyn chuckled silently. “Where did you come from, Aulea?”

“…” Noctis glanced at man. “I’m wanderer…?”

_Well, it wasn’t lie exactly._

“Anyone can say that!” Izunia scoffed and shook his head. “Given his skills in combat, the fact he is still alive after encounter with daemon and that he owns sword, Ardyn…”

King nodded. “I have to agree with you, but otherwise, we have no proof he came to be threat to Lucian people. He may be telling us truth. One of citizens even confirmed he’s tried to help. And he didn’t attack me, even though he had a chance. Or is that a lie? ”

Izunia shook his head slightly. “No. It’s not… But I don’t think we should just let him to roam free.”

Ardyn stayed silent for a while, his eyes darting from crowd of people gathering in the street to his friend and Noctis. He sighed.

“We need to talk about this in private. It would be good for nothing if we caused more commotion in this whole situation. I think Noctis here will agree to this idea too. It’s not safe for him to roam around either.” He placed a hand on Valtieri’s shoulder, squeezing it gently. Izunia frowned but bowed his head slightly, walking over to Noctis, who returned general’s glare but didn’t move an inch. He wasn’t stupid and recognized warning in Ardyn’s voice very well.  
 “Tell all of your volunteers to be ready. We need them in streets for the rest of the night. Organize groups - it will be easier in case of danger to stand a chance or get to Citadel. I want to be informed. After you will be done, come to Throne Hall.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Ardyn then turned to gathering, clearing his throat.

“Dear citizens of Lucis! There was an attack of Red Giant this night, but fortunately, no one got gravely injured.” He smiled faintly. “You can return to your homes. If you see anything suspicious, don’t hesitate to tell patrols or General Izunia, when you see him. As a King, I promise you, we will be here in case of emergency…-“

Watching Ardyn talking to people, Noctis had to admit one thing to man.  He, without a doubt, knew how to capture interest of audience. He had that aura around himself that would make you believe (even against your will) that everything will be alright, if he says so.

He felt Izunia to shove his arm. It wasn’t aggressive, just a reminder that he should move. He gave him one more stare but in the end, he took a first step towards Citadel.

_Like he had a choice…_

* * *

 

A shadow of night loomed over Insomnia’s throne hall, only little light delivered by moon peeking through windows. A sound of heavy steps was echoing in the silence. There were only two people in the room. King and his closest one.

“This is dangerous.” Izunia was pacing through the room, arms crossed.

“Most of the things are dangerous, my friend. You alone said you need people who are talented. You can’t deny him that.”

“We don’t know-“

“You repeat yourself. Actually, few times by now.”

Valtieri sighed and shook his head. “This is ridiculous.”

“But it’s also a way to keep eyes on him.”

“Keep eyes on him by helping him to train some more and then just leave him here, alone, with your magic to 'guard' Lucis?! What would your other advisors say?”

“Nothing, since they are sleeping in their rooms and they weren’t there to see what happened for real. I think their concern should be reconstructions of destroyed buildings and looking after well-being of residents of Insomnia and regions of Lucis while we are gone.”

“Ardyn! Are you even listening to me? Part of well-being is also feeling safe in the environment around. I don’t think having a warrior that almost literally popped up out of nowhere around without a Leader in capital could be taken as a-… ”

“Listening? Oh, very well my friend, to every little one of your words.” King interrupted him. “You are right, he seems as skilled fighter – but he is only one person against whole city and advisors, who can wield weapons. Besides, who said anything about leaving him here?”

“You… just proposed that we should take him with us on the journey to find Astrals?!”

“Yes, I know.”

“This is… madness!” Izunia stopped walking, looking at Ardyn with tired eyes. “You may be King, but you are stubborn as wild Chocobo.”

“I will take that as compliment.” Other man chuckled and stood up from throne, going to him. “You can keep eyes on him like that in the best possible way. Plus, as I said before, we have no proof that he came here to cause harm. He is not infected with Starscourge nor I didn’t feel any proximity of darkness in him - so we can dismiss the option of some masked daemon or intentional summoning. There is nothing we can accuse him of. Besides stealing of sword – and there is no evidence about it - or looking weird but it isn’t a crime in our world, I’m afraid.”

“Fortunately, given your appearance.” Valtieri sighed. “You are too nice, Ardyn. I know you are trying to be reasonable and give everyone fair treatment. But you can’t _save_ or _redeem_ everyone on the Eos. Not every person deserves it.”

Ardyn didn’t try to return the joke, what was quite unusual. Uneasy silence stretched between two men. He turned his head at throne, staring at it, his gaze distant.

“… I promised that I would take care of Eos. Many people died during the War and they keep vanishing because of Plague. There is no need for another one to die - to suffer. I promised to give them a chance until there is no other way.” He whispered silently after a while, more to himself than to Izunia. Or maybe to the voices Valtieri couldn't hear. He took deep breath in. “I will call a meeting about our future journey and the fate of Lucis tomorrow and inform advisors about you leading new found guard-unit in the morning. Good night, General.”

“Your Majesty, I didn’t say anything about his death-...”

“Good night.” Ardyn turned at him, his amber eyes firm - clear sign that this was the end of discussion.  
General sighed but didn’t protest any further. He knew the King very well; if he didn’t want to continue their talk his protests would fall to deaf ear now. He bowed deeply, turning around to take his leave but stopped in front of doors.

“We… might not agree about that Aulea boy. But I shall respect your decision as a King. I will take him under my wings and give him training along with others.” He said. “We both know he will be one of the best and you _will_ lend him your magic, he will even join the journey with us – Gods know you’ve already decided that. But if there are going to be consequences of these decisions, you will have to take actions before it would be... too late to turn the tables.”  He paused for a while, maybe to give redhead a chance to answer. But there was just heavy silence, same as before. “And if you don’t… I will, Ardyn. And you know that I hate empty promises, same as you. ”

He reached out, pushing the doors open with heavy creaking, leaving the red haired man to his thoughts and inner voices.

“May you have good night, Your Majesty.”

* * *

 

Noctis leaned against a wall, closing his eyes. This certainly didn’t go the way he had in his mind. But given the circumstances, the fact he was just locked in one of Citadel’s rooms and General confiscated his sword, was probably one of the best possible outcomes after being in the middle of commotion like that.    
He sighed.  Yeah. Already mentioned General, Valtieri Izunia, didn’t seem very friendly.

“Izunia, huh?”

 _“It occurs to me I never formally introduced myself! Izunia, Ardyn Izunia.  At your service! And more Importantly to your aid.”_  
He still clearly remembered that nonchalant bow and mocking smile Chancellor offered them after the group’s fight with Archeon.  
But that wasn’t bothering him now – he saw that scenario far too many times, he knew it by heart.  There was something else…

_‘Why did Ardyn take the name of that man?’_

Yes, they seemed close as Accursed addressed him by his first name few times during their conversation and kept slightly familiar tone with him. It was easily possible that man put trust of same extent to General as he did with Ignis, Prompto and Gladio so it would be logical, he took the name of someone dear to him.  
But what about the rest of Izunia’s family line? Did he have any relatives to continue their heritage? Having Accursed in their lineage would be difficult during any time, but especially right after the disaster. If he wasn’t banished with his whole family from Lucis for helping Ardyn or he wasn’t killed during some fight… Noctis would have heard of his name somewhere before he even met Ardyn for the very first time, right?

He rubbed bridge of his nose, closing his eyes. A memories of Ardyn’s words were tugging on strings in his mind.

_"Ardyn Lucis Caelum is my proper name. You'll never guess **whose** name Izunia was."_

No. Ardyn was not wrong. He couldn’t guess that, there was no way to.

But now…

_Now, step by step in this world, he could learn that._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Izunia is tired and done with Ardyn. Noctis is confused by Ardyn and also done with him.  
> Ardyn is too stubborn about many things.  
> Please protect him; he just wants best for his people, right?  
> Also, does Red Giant have eyes? This is serious question, I've tried to pause game few times but couldn't see them. Hm. I should probably waste my energy on more important things than trying to figure out THIS. xD Help me.
> 
> Thank you for reading another chapter of Turning Point! I’m sorry for all the grammatical mistakes and awkward sentences/words you can find here once again, I’m not native speaker and unfortunately don’t have BETA.
> 
> Fine, now to this chapter!  
> The worst problem with this chapter that came to my way was argument between Noctis, Izunia and Ardyn. I got stuck for a while, rewriting the part for like thousand times. In the end, Noctis’ (and mine as well) motto became “fake it ‘til you make it” and well, it somehow worked (to some extent at least).  
> Prince has a long way before him and he is really lucky - if I can call it like that. Especially, If I speak about last sentence. He can now learn not only whose name 'Izunia' was - but also about the real man in the hidden history.
> 
> This chapter was getting too long with everything I wanted to include and I really didn't expect that. So In the end, I've decided to split it into two part and make the first one Chapter 3 and second one 4. I hope you don't mind. :)  
> Chapter 4 is half-way done by now, so let's believe I will be able to update soon. 
> 
> Again, thank you very very much for all of the nice comment, kudos, for everything! I don't even know how can I express my gratitude properly. You are awesome, guys and I'm really overjoyed by your feedback/support and the fact that you like this story. It means a lot. Once more, THANK YOU! <3
> 
> Talk to me on [Tumblr](http://aryssiamatsuri.tumblr.com) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/AbikChan)? Would be very grateful for that , of course! :)  
> See you around and SOON!


	4. Chapter 4

“Good Morning, Noct.”

“Oh, look who’s awake!”

“Finally.”

Noctis opened his eyes, blinking at the morning light. He looked around, confused. The high and cold walls of the Citadel had disappeared, exchanged for a small cramped caravan with sun sneaking in through the window. 

_He was back in his time._

Also, he couldn’t see Umbra anywhere. Maybe the dog ran off somewhere, after he brought his mind back to the present - it wasn’t anything unusual for him. He often appeared in the most random places, when you least expected him – just like Gentiana. Deep forests, wastelands that stretched far and wide… Perhaps he followed the group like a shadow? He was the absolute opposite of Pryna, Luna’s second dog. She was royal through and through, and spent all of her time at Luna’s side – almost as if she was attached to her by the hip. Noctis often wondered if Pryna wasn’t in some kind of magical, spiritual connection with the Oracle. Especially, after the incident in Altissia, when the dog passed away right when her owner lost her life…

_No. Don’t think about it, Noct. Not now._

The Prince frowned. No matter how many times he has saw the same image in front of his eyes, it still hurt.  
He shook his head, trying to compose himself and looked at his companions.

“Hey.”

“We almost thought you were dead.” Gladio chuckled. “Maybe you should change your sleeping habits.”

“Yeah, you’re one to talk.” He stood up, stretching and yawning. “What time is it?”

“Almost noon.” Ignis stood up, handing him a plate with some sandwiches he put aside for him. Noctis nodded thankfully, taking it in his hands.  “I spoke with Cindy. The Regalia should be fixed in no time.”

“Yeah! And she asked us to do some small errands.” Prompto grinned. “And who would we be if we didn’t do that for such a nice lady like her!”

“You are just happy she talked to you.” Gladio rolled his eyes but then he smirked. “And what about our company, huh, loverboy? You are a lucky man to have us around, yet you still talk about Cindy!”

“Hey! But well, I can’t deny that.”

“I hope you mean the second thing.” He laughed and nudged Prompto, grabbing him by his arms and ruffling his hair. The Blond yelped, but there was still a huge grin plastered all over his face as he tried to struggle against Gladio.

“Maaan, you’ll destroy my hair!”

“It looks like a chocobo’s butt anyway.”

“HEY! That’s not true! IT DOES NOT!”

“Oh, it does, right guys?”

 Noctis smiled slightly as he watched the scene and shook his head. Ignis next to him sighed deeply but still looked at them with quite an amused expression.

“We should get to these hunts as soon as possible. We have other important things we need to get to after The Regalia is fully functional.” He fixed his glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“Yes! Trip to Altissia for Noct’s wedding day! Oh, I already hear bells in the distance!” Prompto chipped, showing Gladio away with laughter. He looked at The Prince, with a thrilled shine in his eyes. “I bet you’re excited, right?! Aaah, it’s like a dream coming true, isn’t it? Well beside the whole Empire business but… ”

“Prompto…”

Noctis bit his lower lip as his throat squeezed tight all of sudden, noisy memories rushing through his mind. He had to try really hard to keep himself from snapping at the other boy.

_Excited for what?! Your kidnapping? Luna buried somewhere under the water, Ignis going blind; for all the shit that will go down after the events in Altissia? Walking towards all our deaths – stuck in this stupid loop? A dream coming true, really!_

He gripped his plate and placed it on the table. Placed? More like hit the table with it, overlooking the fact that Prompto jerked, startled.  
No matter how delicious Ignis’ sandwiches seemed, his taste for breakfast was gone. After one goddamn sentence - and the Blond couldn’t even know.

_Noct, just calm down. It’s not his fault. What the hell?_

“….Yeah. Sure. We should pack and go. Iggy is right.” It sounded colder than he expected, annoyed, even blaming.

_Why?_

He didn’t want that - they didn’t deserve this – they _didn’t_ remember the whole disaster. And he knew that! Prompto didn’t mean it. It was just a joke; they just wanted to help him.  
Noctis turned his back to them, taking a deep breath in.

_He needed to clear his head._

The Gunner looked at him surprised, confusion lining his features. Gladio as well, judging by his frown and crossed arms. Even Ignis, who was used to every possible whim of The Prince’s by now, looked a bit taken aback by Noctis’ sudden change of mood.

“Everything alright, Noct?”

He leaned against the doors, looking at the garage, its roof shining in the strong sunlight. The heat outside was almost unbearable.

_Just… play it cool now._

“…Yeah. Sorry. I’ll go and talk with Cid about that task from Cindy. Be right back.” He mumbled, leaving his confused guards behind.

_Excuses, excuses, Noctis…_

*******

It was the usual. Hunt the monsters, find the man, and bring back the info. Maybe the stops on the way would be different, some words in conversations, or the times of day - but nothing that would signify that the loop was broken.  
Of course, one visit to the past wouldn’t change a damn thing. Noctis wasn’t so stupid as to think that.

  
He was sitting on the roof of the motel they spent the night in. Ignis was cooking something, with Gladio ‘helping’ him (or taste-testing, as he called it. It usually included The Shield sticking his fingers into the pot with the food, which often resulted in The Advisor’s horrified expressions and slightly disgusted scoffs. ) and Prompto was going through the photos he took that day.  
No one really noticed The Prince sneaking out of the room. And even if they did, they knew he wouldn’t run away into the darkness, since they were aware of how dangerous the nights could be.

He looked up, watching the gloomy landscape. Umbra was nowhere to be seen; he had to wait for the dog for just a little bit longer, probably. At least the unbearable heat radiating from the sun was gone for a nighttime. He smiled, as a soft breeze caressed his face and closed his eyes.

“Hey, Noct.”

Noctis opened his eyes and turned to the source of the voice. Prompto waved at him, smiling.

“You okay? We were worried. You’ve been acting a bit… distant these past few days.”

_‘You act like a childish brat. It’s not their fault that you remember stuff.’ How nice of his inner voice to say._

But… He had to admit that he’d been acting strange. But what was normal about this whole situation, huh? Noctis sighed.

“Yeah, sorry. I’m just … stressed.”

“Ooh, I get it.  Prince’s duties, important business, right?”

“Yeah.”

The Gunner sat next to him, dangling his legs in the air, looking down from the roof. A silence stretched between them; the only sound was their breathing. He glanced at The Prince and cocked his head to the side slightly, clicking his tongue and shaking his head, looking anywhere else just not at his eyes. He did it whenever he was frustrated or indecisive, insecure about something. He rubbed the back of his head.

“Hey, Noct…” He started, still glancing at the sky, road and at Noctis’ face in a circle. “Maybe I’m not nobility like Iggy or Gladio. No status, my family isn’t rich or important, I’m not good with people or even that smart but… you can talk to me. I can listen at least.”

The raven sighed, looking at the blond.

“I … Thank you, Prompto.”

“Always here for you, buddy.” He patted his shoulder and smiled but quickly averted his eyes from Noctis’ once again. The Prince frowned. 

_He wanted to talk._

And Noct had some clue about what, possibly. First of all, about that scene Noctis caused before.  Prompto unfortunately blamed himself for that one. But there was something else to it too.  
The blond always acted so happy and cheerful, always joking around; the only worry he seemed to have was if he was able to pat a Chocobo or not, or if his stomach was full by the end of the day. The ray of sunshine, even the clown, as would some call him, of the group.  
But he had his insecurities, doubts, fears… Like every other human being.  
Even though sometimes The Prince’s memories were a bit hazy after spawning back at the start of a loop; Noctis still clearly remembered Prompto’s pained eyes full of hope when he saw his friends at Zegnautus Keep, or when he had his head down and uncertain, his voice trembling  after they discovered the brand on his wrist.  
The boy was fearful. Afraid of losing his closest friends because they would think he was just another mindless Magitek created for fighting and killing… a monster.

 _‘It doesn’t matter what happened, when you were a kid - not a slightest bit of it all was your fault, anyway._  
_Prompto, there is no need to be afraid, we would never leave you behind._  
_It doesn’t matter if you are royalty or just simple guy or where you came from; that’s just a stupid title, some information written on paper._  
_The only thing which counts is how you live your life and act to the people around you - your decisions._  
_And you’ve decided to be Crownsguard._

_You are our friend._

_And to me, all of you are more than that…_

_Family.’_

Noctis had tried to say these words many times, but … It wasn’t the easiest thing to open up to the world. Even though the feeling of guilt from not being able to say anything just grew – every time he saw Ignis’ scars, when Ardyn  pushed the Gunner off the train – the words just wouldn’t come out of his mouth.  
He thought of their last night together, before they headed to Insomnia. The Squeezing of his heart, tears burning under his eyelids. He managed to tell them how he felt, at least to some extent. That he was grateful to his friends for standing by him, to help him walk tall…And in some way to find a purpose in his life.  
But he regretted one thing.  
That he didn’t tell them more often how close he held them.  
  
_Maybe while changing the past, he could work on changing some old habits too, eh…_  
_The sooner the better._

“Hey. You… don’t need to be bothered by that.”

“Huh?”

Noctis straightened, looking away awkwardly.

“I’m - … sorry. About before.”

“Oh…” The blond smiled. “No, I just… shouldn’t press you. It wasn’t-“

“It was ajoke and I acted like an ass.” The Prince interrupted him

The Gunner snorted silently. “We all have bad days, buddy. Besides, can’t blame you. You guys have much more important things to do and I…” He stayed silent. 

“You said something about us being royalty before, huh?”

Prompto nodded silently. “I’m just… a pile of mess ups. People take me for the cheerful one, for the person that isn’t bothered by anything. And it feels like that when I’m around you.  But… Sometimes it feels like I don’t belong among you, even though I would love to. You guys are all in a different league and I’m… Nothing. Really. “

“That’s not true.”

“Huh?” Prompto looked at him, confusion clear in his eyes.

“I mean, royalty, being rich… it’s just a title, isn’t it?” Noctis continued, taking a deep breath in. “Heritage won’t save your life, or make your actions more significant when it’s needed. It doesn’t matter where you were born but… how you deal with all the shit that comes your way.” He smiled slightly. “And how you act towards the people around you. Think what you will but… you are good enough for me. As well as for Gladio or Ignis.”

The Gunner’s eyes widened, locked on the Prince in shock.  Then he beamed like a ray of sunshine and nodded.

“Yeah… I guess you’re right….Then I’ll just do what I’m best at! Tag along and… try to help, huh?”  He chuckled and gave Noctis grateful smile. “But, seriously, Noct. Thank you for making time for this looser.”

Prince just nodded looking down from the roof.

_‘Feels like I should thank you for the same.’_

* * *

 

He blocked the warp strike from the General, trying to find enough strength to parry the attack.

 _Oh how easy it would be to warp away._  
It **_would_** _be. But let’s not forget where you are, Noct._  
  
His feet dag on the ground but it was too late. He felt a dull pain on his chest after a particularly hard hit and stumbled backwards, tripping over his feet he ended up on the ground, face down in the dirt. He coughed, glancing at the man, who crouched down, picking up the wooden weapon Noct had dropped when he fell.

“Try to watch your right side, Aulea. The enemy can come, when you least expect him. And you should know that from your own experience. Back on your feet, come on.” Valtieri frowned, handing him training sword back. “Again!”

Noctis growled silently and grabbed it, getting back in position.  
Even though he often complained about Gladiolus’ training as a kid (and not just as kid), now he was thankful for the hours of training that helped him get through even without the magic of Kings, with no bigger problems.

Well, speaking of problems…  
Izunia seemed to enjoy sight of every little struggle Noctis had – and not just with training. Living in the past Insomnia with the Raven’s unusual looks, words - when someone asked him about his origins… Like he was waiting for him to make a mistake, for his tongue to slip.  
Not that he openly acted against him in any way; no…He would be lying if he said he did. The General was cold, collected and _professional_ ; one would say that he was trying to help Noct from time to time, by giving him advice he could use in combat.  
But still, the Prince could feel Izunia’s disapproval from the moment he opened the doors to the room and announced him that it was the King’s wish for Noctis to join the newfound guard unit.  
And it wasn’t a question. Or any pleasant business, judging by the tune of Valtieri’s voice.  
If it were up to him, Noctis would probably be judged as a traitor right now.  
No matter how much the Raven disliked the fact that Ardyn might of helped (because the man’s assistance usually brought fresh new disasters and struggles their way) … He had to give him some credit this time.

He sighed, fixing his eyes on Izunia and lifted the sword again.

* * *

 

The days were slowly passing by. Noctis’ travels through the wastelands of Lucis with his friends and training with other recruits under Izunia in The Past were slowly starting to merge together.

_Hunt this and that down, call for Umbra, find some ore for Dino, return to the camp, call for Umbra again. Repeat.  
Like if he created another goddamn circle while trying to break the first one. _

He felt exhausted, he couldn’t even remember the last time he slept properly (Well, _technically_ during his travels to the past he seemed to be asleep to others. But he could feel the minutes and hours of sword fights in his muscles, in every inch of his body..) – and it showed.  Even the others noticed he was dozing off more than usual. Noctis spent almost all the time they were on the road in Regalia’s backseat, leaned against the doors, with closed eyes, somewhere in the world between reality and dreams; trying to catch up on sleep.  
Not to mention that ever since the encounter with the Giant he had only seen Ardyn a few times. Just glimpses. Sometimes he was accompanied by men and women in black long capes (perhaps advisors?) or by the already mentioned Valtieri Izunia; sometimes he noticed the red-head leave the Insomnia’s Citadel on his black Chocobo.

But he didn’t meet him face to face, didn’t have time to explore surroundings.  
It was frustrating and almost felt like he was doing **_nothing_** , still running around on the same spot to the point, where he felt like just losing interest in whatever he was doing. He almost questioned himself, if this whole journey to the past Lucis had any reason. What if everything is going to stay the same – his dearest friends losing their lives, and after the last battle between Kings he will be right back at Hammerhead?  
 During his life, a lot of people around - and especially his teachers - said that there was an aura of ennui around the young Prince. It was one of his character traits and it wasn’t exactly easy to fight it… And let’s be perfectly honest, he didn’t really care back then to try.

_But he had to try harder now, had to keep going. Not for himself…_

And then, finally one day, the routine was interrupted.  
Ardyn Lucis Caelum, the First King of Lucis gave a formal speech to crowd of cheering Lucians. Soon, he was to leave Insomnia to find the Astrals and ask them for their powers and assistance in defeating the Starscourge for once and all.  
During his time away, advisors will be watching wisely over the Lucian regions and Insomnia alone, with help of brave volunteers from the unit Izunia had under his command.  
Besides this, they would pick the best warriors out of their men and The King will lend them his powers. And two of these will accompany Ardyn and The General on their journey, protecting Chosen One in the field.

_And he needed just these few words - motivation even from the Accursed- a promise that the story will move somewhere and he will find out more, to grit his teeth and continue._

It was the night before the skies above the Capital of Lucis were colored red, streets covered in ashes and the air filled with the screams of many innocents in a different time. It was the night before Noctis and his friends would find out that Insomnia in the present **_fell_**.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the 4th chapter of Turning Point, I really appreciate it!  
> Also, huge thank you goes to my amazing BETA [Alpaca](http://alpacaduelist.tumblr.com/), for correcting this fan fiction! You are greatest!  
> Well, what should I say about this part of story? I'm slightly nervous about Noct being OOC still, but I really enjoyed writing his interaction with Prompto and others in the present. Other than that, this is probably one of the longest things I've ever written and FINALLY we are getting to the main part of story (and MORE ARDYN YES)! There are many surprises waiting for young Prince during his journey to the Past Eos...
> 
> Once again, thank you for reading this work, for all of your support and nice words you are giving to this story! You are amazing and it all means a lot to me!
> 
> See you around!
> 
> Talk to me on [Tumblr](http://aryssiamatsuri.tumblr.com) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/AbikChan) ? :)


	5. Chapter 5

“Morning…”

They were in Galdin Quay, when it happened - same as so many times before.  
The Sun was high in the sky, causing sunlight to shine through the glass walls of the rooms in the hotel. Gladio was leaning against a wall; Prompto was looking outside the window, watching waves that glittered in the sunlight. And Ignis was somewhere outside, probably collecting supplies for their future journey.

_Didn’t he see this somewhere before?_

It shouldn’t be surprising by now, not at all.  
Noctis knew what had happened, even before Ignis had opened the door. And if not, he could easily find out from the Advisor’s features – his clenched jaw, eyebrows knit together in a frown – and his posture were giving away more than words.  
The Prince immediately found himself on his feet; he didn’t know how he crossed the distance between Ignis and the armchair he was sitting in and he grabbed the newspaper Ignis had been holding.

_‘Insomnia falls.’_

_Just when it looked like finally, something was happening._  
_…_  
_One step in the past won’t change shit…_  
  
_‘Where were you when your father died? You were playing with your friends!’_

He shook his head, trying to get rid of Ardyn’s voice in his head. But wasn’t the man right?!  
His father passed away; while Noct was enjoying his nightly trips to past Eos and the hunts on his way to Altissia!

_Still, powerless to do anything, unable to warn people **in his time** , who he **loved**. _

Gladio frowned and took the newspapers from him, reading the article. Noctis didn’t mind, he heard it from a distance, like the whole world around him was under water. There was a faint gasp from the Gunner, Ignis was talking about something and he could easily imagine his lips pursed a in thin line.  
He fell down onto armchair again, trying to pull himself together.  
Prompto clenched his mobile phone. “It can’t be true!”

The Blond finally broke eye contact with the blue waves behind the windows to glance at the others, trying to find some reassurance in their faces or hear playful laughter and the words: ‘It was just a joke’.

_But nothing like that would come._

Ignis looked away, sighing deeply. Gladio put the papers down.

“We need to go back.”

“It won’t be safe there for us-” The Advisor was quickly cut off by the Blond.

“It’s not safe here either!” Even though Prompto was worried, he still managed to sound convincing, his hands clenched into fists. Gladio frowned, crossing his arms, his eyes finding Noctis’. 

Noctis gritted his teeth and stood up.

_They should find Cor and start collecting The Royal Arms._  
_Or what if they just go to Altissia as was their first plan?_  
_Did it matter, really!?_  
_It would end up the same anyway, Cor would call, and he would need to get his ass on the boat back to Altissia. But, should he try to run from his destiny like a coward? From something he promised to fix, so many times by now…? Would he not feel guilty?_

Oh, he knew the answer to that; there was no need to remind him of his own feelings.

“We need to get in contact with someone.”

“But Insomnia-“ Prompto raised his voice in disbelief.

“Insomnia, my dad, and Luna! I know!” He snapped. His friends wanted some confirmation about the events that had transpired, if the Capital had truly turned to ash overnight.  
But Noctis so desperately wanted to change something at this point. The motivation he got from Ardyn’s words, and the hope that he moved the story along, was slowly shattering with the current events that came back just to remind him, it’s not that easy.  
If you are slow, it will take its toll. And playing with time won’t go without a price, anyway.

_‘Some things cannot be changed; they are destined to be the way they were.’_

He looked away.

 _No. If he had that attitude it would all fall to ashes, it would all repeat again...  
_ _But isn’t THAT happening right now anyway, Noct?’_

 “We need to find someone, who saw. To know if it’s true.”

_And you are only human, who took too much on their shoulders._

He hissed.

“Find? The best way would be **_see_** with our own two eyes! So, your Highness, what’ll it be?” Gladio asked firmly. Prince sighed. He knew the man; he would go with Noctis even if he strongly disagreed with his decision, because it was his responsibility as a Royal Shield. But he would let him know when he did something selfish. He wasn’t one to hold back words. The Prince bit his lower lip.  
He couldn’t blame him – there was his family, his father, who also lost his life in Insomnia during the Imperial attack.  And his sister, he was so worried about - he didn’t know that she was escorted to safety by Jared at this point, even though Noctis did.  And even after all of this, the son of the Amicitia’s family was able to continue and be strong.

_And you, Noct?_

Maybe that was the main problem, the clash of their personalities. Even after experiencing this a few times, The Prince still felt regret, sadness, and helplessness draining his will.  
This time maybe he was a bit stronger than before, but tiny voices in his head more persistent - because he wasn’t able to stop the events from happening ( ** _not yet_** , he tried to remind himself.).

He sighed and glanced at Gladio.

“So, we turning back?”

_And all of the events will still find you in some way…_

Noctis clenched his fists. He had to shake his head again, to get rid of the annoying whispers.

 “….Yeah.”

_Even if you wanted to hide, little Prince._

*******

Noctis sat down and leaned his back against a wall, trying to catch his breath.

It wasn’t long after the events in the present when Ardyn and Izunia chose their best men out of the unit. They’ve just met with Cor, who gave him a better image of the living hell that was Insomnia during its last few hours, and found the first Royal Tomb. Maybe it was just one or two days…? 

So he had to try really hard at the ceremony, not to punch the redhead in the face.

_How does the saying go? Old wounds re-opened are the hardest to heal?_

Of course the future Accursed couldn’t know, what was happening in Insomnia and Lucis in Noct’s time neither that the Empire, the man so happily served in future, was responsible for the death of **_his_** father.

_Empire? Oh, no.  It was a war he made up in the search for his revenge._

To be honest, thanks to these inner voices, the urge to draw his sword and slash it through the air ( _and King_ ) was strong even after he reminded himself the outcome would just cause more harm (let’s be frank, he needed to repeat these words to himself **_often_** these days).

First of all, he wasn’t any closer to finding out about the root of the problem that initiated the repeating of events (since time for observing was shrunk to a minimum) then on the first day that he came here – what if he accidentally caused another loop in the Past by some impulsive action?  
He didn’t need to regret any more of his steps on the journey, really …  
Plus with Izunia’s eyes on his back it would be difficult to even raise a single weapon without being stopped. So he just grit his teeth and tried to calm down when Ardyn (who just announced that he will be one of the two that will join him and Izunia on the Journey to find the Astrals) stood in front of him, giving him his blessing.

It was strange experience, to be fair.  
On one hand, he was worried about what the attempted “lending” of magic would cause - since he already possessed the same or very similar kind of it.  
Wouldn’t they negate each other? He got used to a normal style of sword fighting thanks to hours of training here, but he couldn’t imagine losing his powers of warping in the present.  
On the other, no matter how many doubts he had now, there was no going back now, and Noctis had to admit that the Trial, as they called it, was fascinating to watch.

Since he was born in a royal line, magic and the whole business with the bonding of souls seemed ordinary to him - it was a part of his life, a thing he was raised with in his mind.  
Well, let’s put it like this: If you were living in present Insomnia and even when you were just a normal citizen, after some time you got use to the image that the city is guarded by a magical barrier and took it as some kind of necessity for a future full of prosperity.  
But to so many ordinary people out there – not just in Lucis but in other nations, all around the Eos -  it was something… out of this world, a confusing and dangerous concept, even after all these years.  
Something that could not just easily take lives, but save them too.  
The Young Prince couldn’t imagine what it felt for people in the Past. Well, it was true that many of them had experienced the very end of the Old War between Gods, where the magic was the main fighting power first-hand, yes. The existence of it wasn’t something shocking for them.

But when you thought about it some more, going through a time like that could actually be one of many reasons to hate those powers, to fear it.

_However they trusted their King, who showed them magic, could help people if you used it wisely.  
He was… a hero for them. Something you would call a savior._

It felt conflicting to even think about Ardyn that way.  He looked at the redhead in front of him, who raised his hands, his words forming into incantations.  
Noctis automatically repeated some of them as Izunia told them to.  
A purple light arose around him in that moment and Noct felt a tingling in his veins. Surprisingly, it didn’t feel intruding or harmful. It felt like a reassurance that the power inherited in Lucis Caelum line was still present, very much alive, and roaring deep in his blood, waiting to be used again.  
Fortunately, it seemed like there weren’t any side effects after casting the spells on Noctis, as he found out during the next few training sessions. And it didn’t seem like they would show up any time soon, thanks the Six.  
Another positive thing was that Izunia returned Noctis Engine Blade to him, even though he kept giving him suspicious glares from time to time.

He rubbed his eyes and sighed.

“Tired?”

“Are you?” Noctis raised his eyebrow, looking at the person in front of him. The Man chuckled and sat down next to him, putting the sword aside, taking a deep breath in. The raven looked at him curiously. He saw him on ceremony, knew that he was the second one they’ve chosen for the voyage in hope of finding the Astrals. They’d exchanged a few quick remarks during training before, but never been formally introduced to each other.

The man stretched his hand out to the Prince as if he was reading his mind.

“Aquila Amicitia.”

The raven blinked, eyes widening in surprise but squeezed the other’s hand with his own.

_Amicitia? So… he is Gladio’s ancestor…?! This was…a shocking coincidence._

 “Noctis… Aulea.”  He nodded. He was quite used to going by his mother’s name here but it still felt a bit strange, since he was used to more familiar names from his friends in the present.  “It’s - nice to meet you…”

The other one smiled. “Same goes to you, young man. Finally _properly_ meeting with one they’ve kept talking about.”  
Aquila pointed at others in the training hall and added:  “You’ve made quite a name for yourself. Fighting alone, and successfully too! Against Giants in the middle of night…”

He grimaced slightly.

_‘The First impression is the most lasting.’  
He should thank his mind for sounding completely like Specks._

“It was too persistent.”

“As much as a daemon can be.” He laughed silently. “But I have to applaud your fighting skills, Aulea. Where did you learn that?”

_Not again._

“In… the Wild? I’m a wanderer… There are plenty of monsters out there.” He shrugged and glanced at him, trying to change subject. “Where did you learn how to fight? You were one of the best in training.”

“It’s true that daemons are lurking almost everywhere outside of the city.” He hummed. “Me? My father was helping General Izunia and His Majesty during the Old War. He taught me some things. Volunteering for the General’s unit wasn’t really a difficult choice; this city needs every hand it can get. And I believe in the King and his decisions.” He smiled. “His powers saved some members of my family in the Starscourge crisis and I will do whatever I can to repay my family’s debt towards him.”

“I…see.”

_‘I believe in the King’, huh?_

Noctis knew that the Amicitia line has stood by the Royal family for ages and now it seemed like the pride they’ve had in helping the Lucian Kings has been there from the very beginning of Lucis.  
He couldn’t ignore the resemblance between Aquila and Gladiolus or Clarus - and not just the same sharp look in his eyes they inherited through these many centuries.  
They were all ready to fulfill their obligations as Shields, Advisors or any position really, to the Royal family, no matter how different  their motives could be– help from the Royal family and the need to help them in turn, friendship they’ve shared, or just a sense of responsibility as a Crownsguard.  
It was almost unbelievable how some things couldn’t be changed even during 2000 years in all of the different people.  
There was just one thing that seemed strange. When Aquila fought next to Ardyn he had to realize sooner or later that there would be consequences and not only for him alone. Staying close to the Accursed could mean damnation to the line of Amicitia. He had to turn sides at some point but that would mean… Betrayal.

But it just didn’t make sense that way!

_Or maybe he serves the next King… But who would that be, who he could trust even more than-_

“Amicitia, Aulea!”

Noctis was interrupted from his thoughts by Izunia’s firm voice. The General was standing in front of them with frown. “You will accompany me to the throne hall. King’s orders. Follow me.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Looks like fun’s over.” Noct mumbled silently and rose to his feet along with Aquila, who chuckled.

“We still have job to do before we can celebrate.”

Oh, the other man couldn’t even know how true those words were for the Raven and what they meant to him.   
Noctis looked at Izunia who was slowly walking away and sighed.

“Yeah, right.”

* * *

 

Agitated voices of people were echoing around the meeting hall of the Citadel, the place where the future of the nation was usually decided and every important task regarding politics, people of Lucis and more. Counselors were sat around the table, facing the King during this important time.  
And let’s be honest, they were quite… shocked by some of Ardyn Lucis Caelum’s decisions at this moment.

“We don’t know if this trip will bring anything beneficial.”

“Do we have any idea, where the Astrals could even be?”

“According to the research I was able to do during the past few weeks there is lot of evidence of their whereabouts.” Ardyn, who was sitting at the top table, pointed at the books, maps and letters placed in front of them.

“Your Majesty, those may just be poems. Mere stories for children. How can we be sure they are not fiction?” One woman asked, her features lined with a worried frown. “We were aware of the forming of a new unit and yes, there was a meeting about the idea of a _possible future_ trip. We agreed to _some_ extent. But it was only a rough concept! And now, we were presented with an already done deal during your speech, Your Majesty?!”

“We weren’t in a hurry to find the Gods _before_ , why now?” Someone else pointed out.

“Is there some reason we are unaware of?” Another counselor looked at the redhead curiously.

“Yes, I have to agree that these may be stories just as easily as they could be facts.” Ardyn sighed as he lifted book, gently patting the cover. “I put my trust in your hands in the question of looking after official business - I’m sure you will take good care of Insomnia and Lucis while I’m gone. This journey can’t wait any longer I’m afraid.”

Some of the men and women in black cloaks looked at each other tiredly. They knew Ardyn’s way of thinking very well. There was no way the King would step from his decisions now, they were aware of it - not after he gave the speech in front of Insomnia citizens.

 ** _A promise_**.

He wasn’t a person to step back from his words. Even when the Gods had disappeared after giving the Crystal, the Ring and the Magic to Lucis Caelum line; Ardyn – the One, who fought by their sides, able to speak with them– remained, trying to contact the beings called Messengers all around Eos, to learn more about his role, to hear their silent voices:

_‘The Chosen One by the stars, to help the world and clean it from the Plague.’_

And he didn’t just listen to those words, no!  
He lent a hand in building of the Citadel, Insomnia from the ruins of Solheim; often left the castle to see people injured or infected with the Starscourge, putting his healing powers to good use.  
It wasn’t any surprise that a lot of people took it as an image of hope, a symbol of dawn after the darkness.

But still, there were some who were uncertain, as the advisors were about to find out.

 “There was a good question a few seconds ago, considering reasons you might have been unaware of. Unfortunately, yes, it seems like there were some events in play that made me act more swiftly.” Ardyn clasped his hands together. “According to General Izunia, the Empire of Niflheim has certain … doubts about Lucis, the Crystal and the abilities the Royal Line possess. To be exact, it seems to them that the Astrals left this world, leaving us to the sickness. To rot.” This statement caused some surprised mumbling. The Man continued: “If we really want to remain in a peaceful relationship with other Kingdoms, they need hm … let’s call it proof.”

“Proof?! Your Majesty you helped them! Bahamut alone descended on this world to grant the Lucian line powers to protect Eos -”

“Those were my first thoughts too, my friend. But it looks like the absence of the ancient beings can plant seeds of uncertainties in the hearts of men. No, current activity is what they judge. It’s curious that people tend to forget what they saw with their very own eyes, in the past- but the truth none the less.”

“But how can we know that General Izunia is right?”

“I was there, I heard the rumors and the words from very important people around the whole land of Eos - with my own two ears.” The heavy doors of the room opened with a creak as Valtieri Izunia walked in accompanied by two recruits. “Even some people, apart from Niflheim are already doubtful about our King, spreading some… tales. It would extent easier than fire, if we let it – I told my humble opinion to His Majesty already. If we don’t want another war on the doors of our freshly rebuilt nation, we needed to act. “

Others stayed silent. Ardyn sighed and nodded to Izunia, who bowed slightly and bid Aquila and Noctis do the same. The Raven frowned but did the same, his blue eyes scanning the room with curiosity.  
The King then turned back to his Advisors.

“As I already said, I’m going to leave the Citadel soon. Probably in the next few days.”

“Days?! But Your Majesty!” He felt surprised eyes on him again as he stood up. Yes, advisors knew they won’t change the mind of the man but they thought that it would take place a bit later.  
Maybe in a few months not days!  
But Ardyn continued, his voice firm with no hint of indecision in it.

“You’ve heard already about another two recruits that will accompany me- Aquila Amicitia and Noctis Aulea.” He continued, gesturing his hand in their general direction. “Both of them are very skillful in sword based combat and they proved themselves to be able to use the borrowed magic of the Royal line. The only regret I feel as a King is that in this case I’m not able to give them more time to get used to the magic and learn it in calm times. And I think the General agrees with me. He will look after them in the field, but we wouldn’t be able to travel far in locations this dangerous with only us two. Right, my friend?”

Izunia sighed but nodded. “Yes, sir.”

The Council stayed silent, men and women exchanging worried looks - but if you looked closely, some of them nodded. Importantly, no one raised a hand or voice anymore protest.  
The Red haired King sighed.

“Thank you. I am going to need your help during preparations these next few days. Providing supplies for the road – food, water… Aquila and Noctis here needs new attires.” He looked down, thinking for a second. “Other Nations and cities – you can find them in these lists, especially Accordo’s Altissia,” He pushed papers towards them, “are to be informed about our visits and possibilities of evacuations during summonings. “

A silence stretched in the room for a while but then was disrupted by quiet yet unison shout:  

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

A clear sign that the King’s words, no matter how rushed or confusing were, were saint here and Ardyn, once again, won another argument.

_Talk about talent with words, huh?_

* * *

 

The streets were full of people, cheering for a parade led by a small group of men on Chocobos. The air filled with petals, the scene reminding one of fairy tales, where citizens were saying their goodbyes to the brave warriors.

_Close enough, hmmm?_

Noctis looked around. He already experienced this but only as a spectator, part of the crowd when he came to the Past for first time – now he was on the other side of it.  
He remembered parades in the Insomnia of his childhood. Beautiful shiny cars running through streets between skyscrapers, crowds in front of Citadel – but it wasn’t personal, like here, where the King was shaking hands with citizens, walking so close to the crowd that they could reach you.  
In the modern world you saw just blurry faces in one big mass from a distance and usually Crownsguards blocked even that small amount of view after his father gave a polite wave of his hand to each side. And he usually didn’t really care that much about them, he didn’t like these occasions. Everything was too loud in that moment. The small prince felt safe only after the doors of his father’s car closed behind them, leaving that scary and annoying real world behind.  
They had their own place. Full of stories, magical creatures hiding behind every corner of Lucis… But it always had a happy ending. Monsters didn’t get Regis and with the help of his old friends, they were able to save Lucis from its troubles.  
A small smiled formed on Prince’s lips as he remembered the last day in the Capital. He was so… careless back then, didn’t made a big deal out of leaving the city, to be fair he even felt some kind of relief to be able to fly away from Insomnia.  
For few moments he felt freer than ever before, didn’t think of the possible outcomes of the whole treaty business for his father.  
Maybe he took his father as some… matter of course. As probably every child does at some point in their life.  
Even after he saw him aging, saw his tired face – Regis was someone who would be always there for his son, no matter what will happen, right?  
And suddenly, only during a few short hours…

He closed his eyes, clutching the reins of his Chocobo in his hand.

_‘There is so much I wanted to tell you…’_

“Don’t fall asleep on us, Noctis.”

He looked up, to be met with Ardyn’s grin and Izunia’s frown.  He sighed and nodded.

“I won’t, Your Majesty.”

The Man scoffed silently, putting the hat he waved to people back on his head.

“Why is everyone so keen on those titles?”

“Maybe if you spent more time home with your crown on instead of that ridiculous thing…” Valtieri pointed at Ardyn’s head. “…you would find out those names are quite important in question of international relations.”  
Noctis just watched them silently. He was even a bit thankful, to be honest.

_Bringing on different thoughts…_

They were the exact opposite of each other.  
The Prince could still find some aspects of redhead’s future behavior even in his current actions. He wasn’t one for formal names and usually referred to people by their first names or called them friends. ( _Perhaps because he spent most of the time outside of the Capital’s walls, between them?)_ The way he acted around others was with some kind of familiarity. And well, after witnessing the conversations, he needed to admit that the future Accursed always had a talent of shocking people. And he obviously enjoyed it – same as listening to himself talk.  
The General, on the other hand, was the composed one, strict and calm - probably used to Ardyn’s whims by now as they seemed like they shared a very close bond of friendship. Mayhaps he was something like Ignis to him? Who knew?

He sighed.

It was… weird, how the Raven could easily find so many parallels between the two timelines he ended up in.

_Everything seemed so ideal at first-_

They were almost at the end of Insomnia, judging by the crowd, which was getting smaller. Finally, the real journey to find the answers of so many questions was about to start. He looked up, watching sun raising high above their heads, illuminating the land in front of them, far and wide.

_-and it had to fall apart at some point._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! 
> 
> Thank you for reading the 5th Chapter of Turning Point and I hope that you enjoyed this little 'monster' of text at least a little bit! Remember that I said last time that the 4th Chapter was probably the longest one I've ever written? Well, when I look at this one, I have to admit I was wrong. Also, the concept for this part was first named 'Ardyn goes full YOLO while Advisors cry in despair and Noct just goes with it because he is 50 shades of done with events'. :'D Another huge THANKS goes to my awesome BETA reader [Alpaca](http://alpacaduelist.tumblr.com/)! You are amazing and I really appreciate that you spent time correcting this story and supporting me!  
> It's been a while, huh? College is eating away the free time with all the stuff and essays. (Plus, it's really not helping that I started another walkthrough of FFXV because of upcoming DLCs. Only few days, yay, are you excited?) 
> 
> But anyway, back to chapter.  
> I managed to introduce another new minor character - this time, original one - Aquila Amicita, the Gladio's ancestor. I was thinking about this for a while and to be honest I wasn't sure about including made up characters at all (well, in Izunia's case it's probably a bit different for me since he isn't just completely random dude. xD), but then I decided that yes.  
> Since, let's be honest, Ardyn and Izunia weren't the only two people in the Past Eos (probably) and that there was heavy impact of the King's decision even on other humans by his side - and every person has different style of accepting the situations they are put into. I believe that this way - in glimpses of minds of different people, Noctis would be able to see events from not just one perspective.  
> I sincerely hope that you won't mind. Thank you for understanding.
> 
> Also, once again, thank you for the support, kudos, comments - everything! I really appreciate every one of them, it means a lot to me; you are amazing guys! :) 
> 
> I guess that would be all for this chapter. I hope to see you soon, guys! 
> 
> Talk to me on [Tumblr](http://aryssiamatsuri.tumblr.com/) / [Twitter](https://twitter.com/AbikChan) ? I would love to talk with you, of course!


	6. Chapter 6

Noctis was used to traveling on Chocobos, really. And to be perfectly honest, he adored the cute and fluffy birds – just the same as Prompto did. He considered them nice, friendly animals and wouldn’t hesitate for a second if he was asked to help one.

_Well. His feelings towards them didn’t really matter at the moment._

Not when the Chocobo they gave him here obviously didn’t like him at all - especially when the animal tried to throw him off without hesitation as soon as they left the city gates. He could swear the damn bird was enjoying every moment, when Ardyn, Aquila or Izunia were looking at him and the animal took every chance to try and make Noct eat dirt – almost literally. He could almost hear its evil laughter when he almost lost his grip, barely managing to stay in his seat.

“Any… complications?”

He glared at Ardyn, who was obviously amused by the current situation. His black Chocobo, was one of the calmest animals Noctis had ever met so it was obvious The King couldn’t help teasing the young man about his walking feathered disaster.

“Not at all.” Noctis growled silently, trying to calm the animal, petting it but had to quickly withdraw his hand before it would disappear inside of the bird’s beak.

_‘Ok, sure it would try and bite off my hand, **sure**.’_

“You seem a bit… absent, Aulea.”

_‘Well, if your chocobo was trying to murder you, I’m sure you wouldn’t be up for conversation either, Izunia…’_

Before he could snap back, the Chocobo decided to randomly jump, surprising The Prince. He could hear Aquila and Ardyn laughing and didn’t even have to look at the General to figure out that there was a huge grin plastered all over Izunia’s face.

_Just perfect._

Noctis hissed and squeezed the reins.

 “C’mon, cooperate. I’m not asking that much.”

“Kweh.”

_So much for a reaction._

“Please?”

The Bird chipped silently and shook its head stubbornly, but for now it at least didn’t try to sabotage the Raven in any other way. But, it was probably just plotting another evil plan in its feathered head.

He sighed and looked out at the country side. The land in front of them, which stretched far and wide was different from what he had remembered from outside of the Capital.  
You wouldn’t find modern roads here; there was no trace of Hammerhead, billboards or any cars. All of that was going on in stories yet untold that the future held in its hands. Even nature looked healthier, greener, even in the time of The Starscourge.  
He had noticed that in Insomnia already.

He sighed. The only thing that remained the same in Lucis was the sparkling blue smoke in the skies, marking locations where havens could be found - places, where humans might hide from daemons lurking in the shadows of night.

He sighed and turned to the others. Izunia was speaking to Ardyn about their journey, looking at some worn and old pieces of paper.

“According to your research, there are six… no, seven places around the Eos, where we… you can sense The Astral’s magic being concentrated.” The man frowned and looked at the old battered map. “The Disc of Cauthess, The Duscae region, Accordo’s Altissia, The Ghorovas Rift in Niflheim, Lucis…”

He glanced at Ardyn questioningly.

“The Crystal, the most powerful source of magic of The Gods.” The Redhead smiled slightly. “Go on.”

_And the place of the Draconian’s slumber…_

Noctis finished Ardyn’s sentence in his mind. Being swallowed by The Crystal for 10 long years taught you a few things.

Izunia’s eyes averted back to The King’s notes.

“The Rock of Ravatogh and… What is this?” The General placed a finger at the last huge ‘X’ on the map. “It seems like you’ve marked another place in the mountains but… There is no possible way to get there, unless you know how to fly.”

Now even Noctis looked at Ardyn in confusion.

_Fly… ? Could they mean…Pitioss Ruins?_

“I understand The Ravatogh but… this?”

Well, Izunia might have gotten an idea about Ravatogh and frankly, he did too – The Cosmogony was a good source (and an obligatory one, if you were a crown Prince of Lucis), when you wanted to learn something about the history of Eos.  
To be honest, The Rock looked unusual even to ordinary humans, without knowing the fact that it was the place of Ifrit’s last breath - not even speaking about the strange smoke hovering above it all the time – but there were no traces of any fire at all (‘ _Only of that goddamn Zu’s nest,’_ he sneered). As a child he thought it was just another whim of Lucian’s crazy weather.  
Small kids don’t care about the Wars of Gods, politics or about any Empires – it’s all boring to them; their greatest problem is having vegetable soup for dinner. They have their own little world, where they are always safe in the arms of their families and loved ones.

_Until they are forcefully dragged out of it._

Noctis closed his eyes as a flashing light appeared in his mind, the blood curling scream of a monster resonated in his ears. He gritted his teeth.

_Focus._

So, what about that ‘place in the sky’? Even the location would fit for Pitioss ruins.  
The group was there only once. And not only because of the “Regalia Type – F”, which honestly wasn’t the brightest idea to start with – since the car exploded right after they landed back in Hammerhead and they had to hunt things down and be delivery boys for everyone without a single complaint for a few days non-stop if they wanted to continue on their way to Altissia – but that place…  
Noctis didn’t know how to put it. No, there weren’t any daemons lurking around any corners nor enemies but… something was off in that place. He felt like something was watching them, every little step they took. Those uneasy feelings, the chills crawling up their spines were something he and other boys could easily live without.

The future chancellor just nodded, absent-mindedly patting the feathered neck of his black Chocobo – Nova, as he called the animal. 

“The magical aura emitting from that place is something… extraordinary, strong.”

“Can’t it just be a side effect radiating from Ifrit’s remnants?”

“I highly doubt it to be so. Magic grows weaker as you move further from its source. That place … seems to be the source of something completely new.” Ardyn said. “So now we have another important question. Why seven places, when we have only the Six above us, hmm? Oh, what an opportunity we have to untangle this mystery now, don’t we?” He mused. “I did some research, collecting remains of the ancient chronicles of Solheim on my last travels. It is said that the old civilization built some kind of … monument near the Ravatogh. So close to the sky, there was just a stretched hand between them and The Gods. Oh, but aren’t those just mere stories?  What if they are not? What if I was able to discover the ruins of what was once something bigger, rich – fragments soaked in the magic of the Six, who lived close to ordinary people once.”

“Do you think one of Astrals is residing there, Your Majesty?” Aquila looked at him curiously and Izunia put maps down.  
Noctis frowned even deeper. He didn’t remember a God hiding there – but to be fair it could be a very different place in the Past.  
Not to mention how different the six other places the man marked on the maps could be.

_This was getting confusing.  
But what about Ardyn wasn’t, really._

Ardyn smiled. “The answer is no, my friend. I’m afraid there must be something else.”

_Here we go._

“One of the Powers I was born with is the ability to communicate with Gods. Besides my healing powers of course. I am able to hear their voices - or whatever you would call it.” He explained. 

“I could sense the presence of the great entities while traveling around Duscae, in Insomnia too. During my voyages after The War, I was near Ravatogh only a few times. People who lost their homes in The War tried to take shelter under the mountains, in its small caves and many of them needed help before they would be swallowed by Plague.” He said silently. “It was dangerous. Ifrit’s body emits the Astralian magic so strong that it was able to keep the vulcano active after it was asleep for so many years. But other than that…. There is dead silence in its core.” He pursed his lips into a thin line, his forehead adorned with wrinkles of worry.

 “If you tried to climb the north side of the Rock of Ravatogh, you can feel it… a change all of a sudden. With closer proximity the magic grows stronger, accompanied by this sense of…….. hopelessness. If that’s a word I can use for the hushed whispers and screams. They weren’t the voices of any divines I know.” The last few words came out as a murmur.

This was the first time Noctis saw the older man uncertain, troubled even. He couldn’t believe that the redhead was capable of such an emotion, with that smug grin of his usually adorning his features. Looks like a lot of things had changed.  
Izunia cleared his throat, interrupting the silence that stretched between them.

“Ardyn. Since you marked it on the maps, do you intend to visit all of them again? Or get within a close distance of them at least?” The man asked calmly. “If you don’t think we will be able to find Astrals in – no matter what it is in the skies, won’t it be pointless? Our time is limited; we should probably focus on the rest of the places if you are sure about the Astrals residing there. Not speaking about the fact that we **can’t** fly.”

Redhead sighed. “Maybe you are right, Valtieri. But I wouldn’t call it pointless. There has to be some reason why that place emits the magic of The Six.” He cocked his head to the side. “What could it mean?  To be frank there is a spark of curiosity in me. And I’ll just add a counter point to that last sentence: with use of Armiger you _can_ fly -for a short period of time.”

“Yes, exactly. _You_ can. But I doubt you can carry another three people with you- ”

_‘Actually, two of you if I wanted to ruin my disguise THAT much.’_

“I’m not against the opportunity to try something new.”

“Maybe so. But I am against the opportunity to end up in 50 pieces scattered over different rocks close to Vulcano, _Your Majesty_.”

Noctis snorted silently.

“And now you doubt my powers and Noctis is laughing at me. What have I done to deserve this?” Ardyn raised his voice dramatically.  
Izunia sighed deeply (Noctis could swear he saw him roll his eyes) and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Aquila couldn’t help but grin too.

“Let’s… Look at the maps again and see how long it will take to get to our first destination, which is-“

“Titan, the Archaean,” Ardyn smiled. “Steadfast as stone. Ramuh, the Fulgurian, sharp as lightning. Shiva, the Glacian, gentle as snow. Leviathan, the Hydraean, relentless as the tides. Bahamut, the Draconian, unbending as iron. Ifrit, the Infernian, fickle as fire. Since time immemorial, they have watched over Eos.” He recited. “It’s easy to find these rhymes in chronicles. I think we should consider this as a … right order, let’s say… To visit the Six .”

“The Disc of Cauthess it is then.” Izunia traced a finger on the map, pointing at a small handwritten note by Ardyn and then looked up from the paper. “It will take a few days on Chocobos. And since traveling during the night would be dangerous, we should keep track of havens nearby.”

“I could not agree more, Valtieri.” Ardyn said, worried wrinkles disappearing from his face almost immediately. “I know some but Noctis here probably has a better knowledge of Lucis as a traveler than me.”

Noctis froze. Izunia looked at the Raven with a quite… amused ( _and pleased_ ) expression.

_Shit.  
Okay, think._

 Gladio always loved to walk them around different havens and places for camping. Noctis felt like they’ve built tents on every place possible haven far and wide - from the region of Leide to Cleigne and back. Havens weren’t the top of the list of favorite accommodations for the young Prince or gunner (who much preferred a warm bed and shower), but he was very thankful for The Shield’s enthusiasm for land exploration and survival methods right now.

_Let’s see._

Insomnia in these days wasn’t as big as it was in the Present. Of course, it wasn’t just one street - and it took some time until you reached the gates of the city even here, but you couldn’t compare it with the metropolis it was in future.

He frowned and looked up, his eyes focused on the shimmering light emerging from the enchanted fire in the distance. They’ve already passed one like it, when they were crossing the river sooner that day.

_The future Crestholms Channels…? So it was Palmaugh Haven maybe?_

There would be the main gate one day and just a few kilometers later they would be able to see Hammerhead in Noctis’ time.

  “There should be The Circlawe Haven nearby.” He said after a minute of silence. “And Cotisse Haven, but it’s in the opposite directions from our way.  Both are close, just an hour, or so, on Chocobos.”

Ardyn smiled. “Amazing news, isn’t it? It’s always great when there are more people who know the terrain, right, Valtieri?”

“Indeed.” Izunia looked at the young Prince suspiciously but nodded. “Your Majesty, we shall head to the haven as soon as possible. The night will be here soon, we can’t risk the attacks of daemons right on the start of our journey. Also, I would like to give Amicitia and Aulea a few more instructions about warping, fighting mid-air and using attacks against quickly moving enemys. No matter how talented they may seem,” he paused for second, glancing right at Noctis, “they still need to exercise daily – or at least when it will be at all possible. They can’t afford skipping out on their training, if we take in consideration the importance of this mission and the role of the King’s Guard in it.”

Aquila next to Noctis nodded firmly. “Yes, sir!”

“It seems like it can’t be helped.” The Red haired King shook his head with a smile, looking at the sun, which was slowly, but surely turning orange on the horizon.  
A signal that the time of daemons was swiftly coming their way, turning the land into a dangerous place. A land, where humans didn’t have a place. And if they tried to claim it, there would be a huge price to pay for their impertinence.

“Circlawe Haven it is, then.”

*******

It was a bit different from camping with his friends.

_A bit? It was extremely different._

No tent – just a few blankets as a promise of not sleeping on the ground; no camping chairs or a plastic table, no smell of Ignis’ delicious cooking _(‘Unfortunately,’_ Noctis thought as he was handed a small packet of dried meat and vegetables, to his horror _)_ around the small fire. Usually, these were the moments when they finally had some time to breathe, rest for a while, and enjoy a small game of King’s Knight.  
Now, he could only feel the cold ground under him as he coughed, squeezing the Engine blade in his hands.

_Well, at least Izunia had returned his sword._

But his head throbbed, hurting like hell.

“Your reflexes are great, you have a good swing but it seems like when you are focused to intently on the battle and warping, you tend to forget about your limited stamina. So you often get into a state of stasis and it’s easier for enemies to knock you down.” The General sighed, taking a small flask out of his pocket, handing it to the Raven. Ether. “You won’t be any use to anyone, knocked out cold. Think about it.”

“I get it!” Noctis growled and sat up, hissing. “I get it.”

 Izunia nodded in return. 

“Very well, then. Amicitia! You are up.”

Noctis stood up, calling off his sword.

“You were hiding some useful moves there, weren’t you?” Aquila grinned at him.

“What can I say?” He stretched, hissing. Ether helped a bit, at least the headache was slowly fading, but his back was still sore as he collided with stone.

“Natural talent.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Noct waved with his hand. “Show some of yours too, man.”

The young Prince returned closer to the fire, sitting down on his pile of blankets, next to the chocobo – which, once again, wasn’t in a good mood ( _or a mood for Noctis, especially_ ) and bit the air next to him.

“Hey!” The Raven shook his head and frowned at bird.

“They can sense the dark secrets you are hiding, and it can make them nervous…” Noctis looked up. Ardyn was sitting close to him, leaned back against Nova, while reading some documents, papers neatly placed in a pile next to him. He smiled. “Or if you are irritated by something - which is more than possible in your case. They are delicate animals. Also, your back is hurt. May I?”  
He extended his hand to the Raven.

_Right… The healing powers of The Oracle._

Noctis frowned and shook his head.

“I’m fine, no need to.”

“Yes, I’ve noticed. Valtieri is giving you a hard time.” Ardyn placed his scrolls away and stood up, going to Noct’s Chocobo. Nova raised her head from the ground, opening blue eyes, watching the man calmly. The Prince eyed him curiously. “Excuse him. He is trying the best for the people of Lucis, the people he feels a responsibility for and… Oh, _‘the stubborn and always too soft King, who doesn’t listen, not even in the face of extreme danger’_ , as he calls it, as well.”

The King said kindly, chuckling, his eyes turning soft colored in an orange shine from the fire.   
Maybe Noctis should start getting used to some of those small unusual things considering the redhead’s behavior - apologies, smiles, the caring atmosphere around the man in place of the mockery and acting. Of course, there were still some aspects of the older Ardyn, but the changes were big enough to take him for a completely new person, still.

The Prince sighed.

“I…can’t blame him.”

“Hmmm?”

“Izunia. I mean… The General.”  The Raven looked at the man, who was just showing Aquila how to block an attack with a warp strike.  It was obvious that Gladio’s ancestor, even though he was a chosen one to borrow the magic of Royalty, still preferred the steady ground under his feet. “You said it before. He tries his best… for his friend.”

Ardyn looked at him with a spark of curiosity in his eyes. Noctis shrugged and turned his gaze towards the fire. It felt weird to talk to the man like _this._  
  
Friendly, normal talk with Ardyn, huh? Who could know this could happen?  
_But… About that before._  
_Yeah._  
_He would do the same for his friends. Try his best for them._

 _It’s why he was here, wasn’t it?_  
  
There was a silent moment between them. The future Accursed stretched his hand, gently patting the animal next to Noctis.  
The Ring of Lucii, the rightful belonging of the Kings passed through many generations was glimmering in the light of the campfire on the man’s finger; the reminder not only of his status but the great responsibility that comes with it. The Bird chipped softly and leaned into his touch.  
Noctis noticed and couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

“Traitorous bird. “

“Kweh!”

“C’mon, it’s not nice to laugh at our precious company.” Ardyn shook his head, stroking the Chocobo’s feathers; an amused smile lining his features. “Or make him eat dirt, when you have the chance - no matter how funny it may look, we still have a job to do and it would be slowing us down.”

“Very funny,” Noctis shook his head.

“I agree. But you should apologize too, Noctis, for calling her a traitor.”

Noct gave him an unbelieving stare.

“Both parts are guilty, it’s only natural to say sorry – and start anew.” The man grinned. “I promise she won’t hurt you.”

_He was enjoying this._

Noctis sighed deeply and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

 “Okay, fine. I’m sorry.”

The bird cocked her head to the side but in the end, the animal gently nudged Noctis’ shoulder. The Prince sighed but patted her head cautiously, in case the Chocobo would try to bite his hand off again. But the animal seemed like it put a halt to its evil plans…. For good, hopefully.  
Ardyn clasped his hands.

“Seems like business is settled and both of you are content.”

“You seem like you understand them well….Chocobos I mean. Don’t you?”

“There is much to love about Chocobos, isn’t there? Like I said before, they are delicate animals, who can sense every little thing and emotion in your heart – but there are no greater companions during journeys than them. If you earn their trust, they won’t ever betray you. Right, Nova?”  He glanced at the black bird, who was watching her owner calmly. “She’s been with me since she was a small Chocobo chick. She has experienced war, and the worst of The Scourge…”

Ardyn stopped speaking and looked up, his eyes watching something in the darkness. It looked like he was… lost in his thoughts for moment.  
Noctis looked into the distance too, a gentle breeze caressing his face.  
One day, there will be a road to The Longwythe Rest Area, the sign with bright neon red words, shining like a beacon to announce that people had arrived at a safe place to rest after traveling through the night…

“Eos is a place of many legends, isn’t it?” Ardyn asked softly, sighing deeply. “Even this place. Circlawe Haven, hmm? Did you know that there are stories about a moving Mountain?”

_… And of course, goddamn Adamantoise._

“It’s actually a giant turtle.” Noctis blurted out without thinking. He had that battle deeply etched into his memory. How long had it lasted, three days? Or four? Even his limbs started to ache again as he remembered that huge monster. He hissed.  
Now it was Ardyn’s turn to look surprised.

“Is… it?”

“Yeah…?”

The Prince rubbed the back of his head. Maybe it wasn’t the wisest idea to admit that he met the so called Mountain but…

_Well, he claimed he was a traveler, so… He didn’t need to mention that he and his friends slayed the monster in their time._

Ardyn looked like he wanted to ask something more, when they were interrupted by Izunia’s voice.

“It seems like Aulea and you are both enjoying the evening.” He sounded a bit tired as he sat down next to his blankets and put the daggers away. Aquila did the same with his sword, taking out his share of food.

“We wouldn’t mind if the rest of the party were to join us. Noctis and I were speaking about the tale of the moving mountain.” The Redhead nodded to Valtieri.

“I’m afraid it will have to wait until another time.” Izunia said. “You know I enjoy the stories of Eos, but it’s quite late for fairy tales. You have another training session in the morning. And don’t look _that_ excited.” He chuckled as he noticed the look on Noctis’ face.  “We should bid each other good night.”

“You are no fun at all, Valtieri.”

“Aulea seems like he would agree with you, Ardyn.”

Aquila laughed and Noct shook his head.

_What time is it right now?_

Maybe Izunia was right about them going to… sleep, if he thought about it. He didn’t know the exact hour but it wouldn’t cause any harm if he got back to his time. He pulled one of his blankets closer as he laid down, his eyes watching the others again.

To be perfectly honest, it was riskier, than he had imagined.

_Oh, wait, did he **at least** imagine it? Hell, calling Umbra in an open space was close to a suicide mission. What if someone caught him? What if someone didn’t go to sleep? What would he do **then**?  
What if someone found out?_

Yes, Noct had already mentioned he understood Izunia in a way, but that didn’t mean he liked him – let’s be honest, the feeling was more than likely mutual.  
And he also didn’t have any intentions of playing into his hands by openly doing some kind of suspicious action.

Fortunately, this time, it went smoothly.

*******

And even the second time and the time after that. Even though Noctis didn’t feel that confident about sneaking into the darkness close to the Haven to call for the dog, fortunately it didn’t bring any disaster his way, not yet.

_‘Yet, Noct, yet is the keyword.’  
Well, thanks inner voices for these kind reassuring words._

With each step, each Haven passed, and Sabertusk killed they were closer and closer to the Disc. Not only in the Past but in the Present too.  
Meeting Iris, Jared and Talcott in Lestallum, going to The Tomb, finding another Royal Arm – the same story as before… Oh and headaches, filling his head with images that he already knew was the voice of one of the Six.

And it seemed like in the Past, Ardyn Lucis Caelum was experiencing something very similar. It started a few days after they left Circlawe Haven.  
They’ve found a small shelter for people infected with the scourge along the way – probably somewhere between the location of Nebulawood and the future Alstor’s coernix station – judging by the picturesque view – the lake, even though smaller than in the future, lined by rich forest; also you could already easily recognize the curves of crystal on the meteor impact site.

Ardyn insisted on stopping by – at least to examine the severity of the infections.  
He remembered Izunia’s deep sigh as The King approached the people with worried faces, repeating the mantra of The Oracle with every one of them  
  
“This is all I can do for now. But I give you my word that you will feel relief in a few days.”  
He promised, a tired smile lining his features after he had healed the last person.  
But there was something else as they were leaving.

“How many of them…?”

“All of them.”

“Ardyn-!”

“I’m fine, Valtieri, there is no need to worry or cause a… scene.” Redhead said firmly, but his eyes didn’t meet those of The General nor of Noctis or Aquila. “It’s why I am here, isn’t it?”

Izunia sighed. “The duty of the one called The Oracle. Given by the Astrals above…”

“… The one, who shall clean the Stars of the Scourge and bring peace to the world.” Ardyn finished the sentence and closed his eyes, squeezing the reins of his Chocobo. He seemed a bit… _off_ , if Noctis could call it that.

“He is there…” he mumbled silently, his eyes meeting the crystal in the distance, which was getting closer and closer, step by step.  
Izunia sighed.

“We should call it a night, Your Majesty.”

“It’s still too early, Valtieri.”

“I oppose. We need to get enough rest before we travel any further. We don’t know what we could meet on our way and it would be dangerous if one of us was in a bad condition.” There was a worried tone in his voice. “There should be a haven, nearby.”

Ardyn stayed silent for a while, his eyes still fixed on one point.

“If I may, Your Majesty, I have to agree with The General.” Aquila said silently.

Ardyn sighed deeply but nodded in the end. No more words were needed as they headed to the Pullmoore Haven.

But it didn’t get any better as they traveled closer to the Disc. In fact, the exact opposite of it. Ardyn’s condition worsened, and even though The King tried hard to hide it, there were signs of pain on his face every time he tried to focus on something. But Izunia knew – and he tried his best to make him rest as much as possible.  
No matter how hard it was for him to admit it, even Noctis felt a little worried for the man.

 _It was just human nature maybe… to care about people you spend time with – even after what happened in the future._  
  
“They sure are talkative.”

They had gotten so close to The Disc the other day, just a stretched hand lay between them. His words startled Noctis out of his thoughts and he raised his eyes up towards the man. Ardyn was leaned against Nova as usual, while the rest of the group was training. But this time, his maps were pushed away from him. He had collapsed on the way to the campsite. He still didn’t look the best, but at least he was up now. Obviously the accident didn’t stop him from talking so… He seemed like he was fine to some extent.

“Gods. I mean. Valtieri complains I speak too much but it’s nothing compared to them. Especially Titan. He could recite you the whole history of Eos in one sitting.” He chuckled silently. “Oh and they don’t take ‘no’ for an answer.”

The Raven sighed. He had his own experience with Titan.

“How do you… communicate with them? Astrals, I mean. It seems a bit painful.”

He couldn’t help but be curious. Of course, he saw Luna in his visions, he heard her speak with Leviathan but…

_Was it always like this…?_

“Oh, I feel very flattered that you are worried about me.” Ardyn grinned and sighed. “Some of them speak to you in their own languages. Others show you visions that are not really pleasant for your mind, yes. Or two of these things combined. It comes in waves and never ending whispers inside of your own head. Here our magnificent friend…” he waved in the direction of The Disc. “…is a real expert in both of the mentioned.”

“Did they try to…”

 “Talk to anyone else? It’s a usual question. It happened a lot in the Past, let’s be honest. But after almost everyone with the ability to speak their language went mad – or angered a certain one of them so much she destroyed a few places, Gods have decided to send Messengers to this world. There are 24 of them around Eos and are perfectly capable of communicating with the Stars if needed.”

_Gentiana…_

“They’ve integrated with people so easily. It was a bit difficult to search for them.” He sighed. “But people needed reassurance. They were looking up to the one, who got the blessed gifts... What else did they have? And what else did _I_ have?”

Noctis frowned slightly, a spark of curiosity in his eyes.

“Family… waiting for you?”

He sighed. “They were my family. Valtieri. One could say that even The Astrals.”

“You blame The Astrals for being talkative, yet you won’t close your mouth for one second even when you are sick.”

Noctis looked up. Izunia stood there with a frown and his arms crossed.

“But isn’t it the truth, hmm?” The Redhead raised his eyebrow. The General sighed and looked at Noctis.

“It’s your turn, Aulea.” He cocked his head to the side. “And Ardyn, rest. You don’t need to worsen your condition.”

“Oh, I’m resting. And you just ruined the rest of my evening, thank you very much.”

Noctis shook his head slightly and snorted, earning one harsh glare from The General.

“If you really wish for company, I will keep you occupied. But they need to practice.”

“Oh, Astrals above. You are the first thing I remember, you can’t blame me! From time to time it’s nice to talk with other people normally too.”

Valtieri crossed his arms, his frown deepening.  He glared at the Raven.

“Practise with Amicitia today.  You are perfectly capable of it, aren’t you?”

Noctis looked at him with a surprised expression. That sudden change of atmosphere was quite creepy.

“Do you understand?”

“I-… Yes, sir.”

“Then what are you still doing here?” The other man asked coldly. The Prince tightened his grip on his sword but nodded.

_What was going on?_

Ardyn sighed and closed his eyes tiredly.

“I’m…sorry that I reminded you of it. It wasn’t your fault, Valtieri-“

“ **Rest** _, Your Majesty_.” The tone of Izunia’s voice was very close to snapping.

A clear sign that it was the end of that discussion.  
It seemed like the air above the camp got colder - and it wasn’t the side effect of the magic they used during training.  
This time, Noctis wasn’t as good as before – talent and years of practice barely compensated for the haze as the small voices bothering his mind wouldn’t go silent.

 _You are the first thing I remember…It wasn’t your fault…_  
_…_  
_What wasn’t his fault?_

* * *

  
The current day, Lestallum Market was very lively as usual, full of people of every kind, the air filled with the smells of various spices and food. The red haired man was watching the mass around him with a pleased smile. Oh, no, he wasn’t seeking exotic fruits or a quality weapon. The thing… or person he was looking for was running right into his open arms - there was no need to search.  
People around him were chatting about various topics as he slid through the crowd. He felt some curious glances on his back but didn’t really pay attention to any of them. The only thing he minded were his inner daemons – literally – and the voices of God.  
He smiled, amused.

_Archaean…_

Titan was calling for his one True King, _how sweet_. But oh, poor _Noct_ won’t understand, not a single word. Not without the help of The Oracle. They will be just a bunch of distorted images and noises that will try to tear his head apart.  
Of course, Lady Lunafreya already spoke with some of the Six so they would accept the idea of forming a covenant with Noctis, there was no doubt about that. The Prince was just letting himself be dragged, from place to place. First, his father, then his friends and his beloved… Now even the Accursed…

_And this was the Chosen One of the Gods… How…  
Pitiful._

To be honest, he thought he would hate Noctis, starting from the very first second he spotted him.

_The Chosen King, the second choice of The Astrals, who were trying to fix their own… mess._

He grimaced. But no, there was something else as he caught sight of the Raven in the Galdin Quay. Some aura of… familiarity hovered around the young Prince?

_As if he greeted someone after so long time…_

The Man clicked his tongue and shook his head.

_That was ridiculous._

His feet took him to the parking slots. Ah, The Prince’s ( _‘Or King’s… as he should call him now, probably?’_ ) fancy car – The Regalia, as he believed they called it - was neatly parked next to some other automobiles - probably courtesy of Scientia, who didn’t look like he trusted Noctis behind the wheel.

_Maybe he should assign the Raven as their designated driver on the way to the Disc. Oh yes, that sounded like a grand idea - for the sake of his own amusement, of course._

Ardyn Izunia, the Chancellor of Niflheim looked up, his eyes meeting the light of the meteor in the distance.  
Tomorrow was the day when he finally got to the … “fun part”. Oh, how hungry he was for this moment after 2000 years of waiting in the darkness.

_Now his revenge was close at hand._

He closed his eyes, the millions of voices in his soul ( _his? Could he even say that anymore?)_ Were screaming, mixed in with the howling of Titan. There was a glimpse of blue eyes behind his closed eyelids.  
His eyes snapped open and he gritted his teeth.  
Maybe now he knew, who the young prince reminded him of.

_And the whole world will see just how powerful it can be…_

   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After a while, I finally managed to finish the sixth chapter! I hope you liked this one at least a little bit.  
> Great thanks goes once again to my dear [Alpaca](http://alpacaduelist.tumblr.com/), who spent her time BETAing this fanfic!  
> It was great fun to write this one - and I really enjoyed the writing process to every little letter, but real life got into way - especially college with tons of essays (*coughcough*and I kinda started making my Ardyn cosplay *coughcough* YES, SCHOOL.)  
> Honestly, I couldn't wait to write the interactions between Ardyn and Noctis from the very beginning, so I hope, you enjoyed it same as me while reading it.  
> Also, more questions were asked in this chapter and they wait to be answered. What do you think? Which one is bothering you the most? (I'm bothered by the fact that I didn't come up with the name for Noct's Chocobo still. :D But if you had any ideas, it woul be greatly appreciated if you shared them with me as well as thoughts about this chapter!)
> 
> And in the end... I want to thank every one of you. For reading this story. For commenting here. For Kudos, support. You are amazing and you can't even imagine, how much all of that means to me.  
> THANK YOU. You are the best. 
> 
> Well. I hope to see you as soon as possible with the 7th Chapter! :)
> 
> Scream with me about FFXV (and everything else really) on [Tumblr](http://aryssiamatsuri.tumblr.com) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/AbikChan)? Would love to see ya there, guys!


	7. Chapter 7

_There was a red glimmering light in the distance. Strange stone faces, watching him silently._  
_His lungs hurt, his vision blurry. One step, two steps. Everything was covered in thick red fog and pain echoing in his head - ‘why does it hurt so much’ –he thought, but he needed to keep going, there was a small voice in his head that screamed at him to continue._  
_The world was moving and suddenly, a bright light engulfed his vision. He hissed – it hurt, feeling unfamiliar and wrong to his eyes –turning to try and get away from it, he hit something that felt like bars._

 _‘What was going on?’_  
  
_He didn’t know how long he had been moving towards… something. Not the goal. His mind was too confused, too hazy to focus on some **goal**. He couldn’t remember why he was even running. Running from something probably?_  
_His body hit the ground._

_‘Is this the end?’_

_Darkness was swallowing the edges of his vision slowly._

_“The Six above- Hey! Are you okay? There’s someone-!”_

_‘Help me.’_

_***_

Ardyn’s eyes flung open as he shot up, sitting bolt upright, his chest heaving as he gasped for air. A cold breeze weaved through his hair, clearing his mind of the last of the haziness from sleep, a gentle orange glow illuminated his face, reminding him of where he was exactly. The red fog disappeared – oh it was never there, in the first place.

_Just a Dream…_

His head was throbbing in pain and his forehead was covered in a cold sweat - which wasn’t anything unusual these past days, nightmares or not, to be honest.  
But there was something else beside that. Unfamiliar sounds - echoes of a whisper…?  
  
_‘It must be a side effect of the stress... And his talk with Valtieri. That’s why it felt so… real.’_

He shook his head, trying to get rid of the last of the voices, pushing them to the back of his mind.  
Tired amber eyes scanned his surroundings. They were still in the camp, the fire’s light coloring the sleeping figures in warm colors. Valtieri, Amicitia, Noctis. He frowned. And…Wait, was that a dog? He blinked, trying to clear his vision. The Man looked at the sleeping Raven again. He was … alone. 

As expected. Nothing unusual.

_Now I’ve started seeing things. Great._

There was a slight movement behind him and soon a feathered head gently nudged him. Ardyn chuckled softly, rubbing his eyes. He raised his hand, gently ruffling the feathers of the black Chocobo that interrupted his gloomy thoughts.

“Couldn’t sleep, Nova?” He asked, his voice soft so as to not disturb the others. The bird was watching him curiously with its big blue eyes. He sighed. “That makes the two of us.”

He looked at the light of meteor in the distance and closed his eyes as another agonizing wave of images spread through his mind. He clutched his forehead with his trembling hand.

_As if you could make it stop by doing that… don’t be ridiculous._

He couldn’t remember if he ever experienced this kind of pain during summonings or talking with Astrals in general. It wasn’t pleasant even before - as he mentioned to Noctis, but to this extent?  
Combined with the fact that he was tired, his energy drained by fevers and illness… It felt strange. As if something inside of him didn’t want to face The Gods again, hear their voices; making his body rebel against it all.

The Redhead shook his head and sighed deeply, leaning against his black Chocobo again. His eyes closed after a while, his body and soul embraced by a sleep that didn’t bring the awaited redemption from the visions that plagued him.

Just more and more whispers and nightmares that felt too real on his skin.

* * *

 

The heat radiating from the meteor was the same Noctis remembered from The Present. Their Chocobos started to get really nervous after they tried to leave the Haven on them, so in the end, they had to travel the few last miles by foot. The terrain got more rocky and dusty with each step, promising that they would soon be close to the impact site.  
Noctis knew there won’t be any Royal Tomb waiting for him nor one of  The Royal Arms. And massive barricades created by people’s hands with help of powerful machines? That was another story yet to be told.

Izunia was speaking something about communication with The Astrals. Ardyn was unusually silent, his eyes fixed on the road in front of them.   
Hardly an idyllic scene.  
Maybe it had something to do with the conversation between The General and King the evening before, while Noct was training with Aquila? And that remark of Ardyn’s… Noctis sighed. The warmness from meteor was clouding his mind, he couldn’t even think properly.

“During the ritual we will stay behind and let the king communicates, do you understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Aulea?”

_‘Why the hell couldn’t the temperature change too, if everything else did?’_

“Uh. Yeah.”

Izunia frowned.

“If anything happens our duty is to protect The King until he will be able to continue the rite and form a covenant with the Archaean. But we can’t afford to let our guards down.” He said silently, his eyes not leaving Noctis’ face. “No matter how good we were during training, one false move and it’s all over, I believe you understand that.”

The Raven frowned deeply. Izunia seemed even sharper and colder than usual, only confirming Noct’s suspicion that something must have happened last night. They walked close to the stones that formed the cliff, right above the meteor. The General motioned for them to stop and turned to Ardyn as if seeking for confirmation of his previous words.

“Your Majesty?”

The Redhead just nodded silently, his eyes fixed on the impact site in front of him. He raised his hand, a long weapon appearing out of nothing in his palm, crystalizing from small purple lights.  
Noctis blinked.

_The Trident of the Oracle. So Nox Fleuret’s line wasn’t the first to wield it.  
Some more surprises?_

Raven was almost sure he knew the answer for his own question.

Ardyn slowly walked forward to the cliffs edge, his eyes firmly locked on the Crystal. He cleared his throat and looked up, calling out in a deep and resolute voice.

“Oh, One of the Powerful Gods, Stars that have created this world; show yourself to your servant, who seeks your help – carrying the creation of the Astrals alone!” He raised his hand, lifting the Trident of the Oracle above his head. His eyes flickered with a violet glow as the air was filled with light that radiated from the weapon, shining around the man’s form. “Archaean, steadfast as stone, old as the Eos alone, answer this simple man, who once fought in The War of Gods by your side; answer this one, who speaks your language and spreads the word about you.”

The ground started to shake. Noctis noticed how Izunia squeezed the daggers in his hands and looked at the crystal in the impact site as it slowly uncovered the massive body of the being. Aquila’s eyes widened in complete shock.  
One of the Gods alone was hovering over the cliff, looking at the King, who bowed deeply.

 “I, the King of Lucis, Ardyn Lucis Caelum, stand here with hope of being granted the blessing of the Stars. Please, lend me the ultimate power of The Gods - to defeat the Plague once and for all, to fulfill the prophecy of the Chosen One as was once told by you, the magnificent Astrals.”

Titan howled, its eyes never leaving the face of redhead.

 “He answers..?” Aquila exhaled, surprised, looking at the scene with fascination.

“Yes. He remembers him.” Valtieri’s eyes were darting from Ardyn to the Archaean. “Be ready, both of you, if anything happens.”

_‘You don’t need to say it twice.’_

Noctis frowned slightly, his eyes focused on the redhead, a memory of his own fight flickering in his mind.  
Titan moved slowly, the ground close to him cracking into pieces. Ardyn staggered slightly, as the stones under his feet shook but managed to keep his balance.

Izunia raised his hand slightly, he looked like he wanted to warp closer to The King for a second – as if he sensed some kind of danger, but other man glanced at them and raised his hand in motion signaling for the other to stop. He looked back at the Titan.

“I’m doing as I was told – healing the people affected by Ifrit’s reckless behavior and the illness he caused.” Ardyn stretched his hand to Titan, gentle warm light enveloping his hand. “And I promise I will prove myself worthy of forming the covenants with you - same as I did in the War.” Man said firmly.

Titan was watching him for a small while with curiosity as he stretched his massive hand towards the King of the Lucis… For a second, it looked like some kind of painting, too ideal.  
But all of sudden, Ardyn withdrew his hand, with a soft cry and collapsed to his knees. And the Titan…

_It all went too quickly._

“Watch out!” Izunia screamed and threw a dagger in hope of warping close to the redhead, but he was knocked down by the massive stones, which exploded literally everywhere, after the Astral smashed their hand down on the ground, where The King of Lucis was standing. The Redhead managed to dodge the attack somehow, but ended up on the ground, clutching his head, his face twisted into a painful grimace. The Trident slipped from his trembling fingers, falling down to the rubble and disappearing – same as both men - with it down the cliff.

“Sir! Your Majesty!” Aquila shouted and hurried to the edge of it, Noctis following in his wake quickly.  
The air was filled with dust, which covered the scene and air that was soaked in the scent of Sulphur.  
Aquila shielded his eyes, coughing, trying to seek out two figures in the whole mess. He raised his hand to warp down but Noctis grabbed it, frowning. The Young Prince already knew that the side effects from overheating were not pleasant at all during the using of magic and that any wrong step here could take them down with no effort. And a wrong landing? It could easily be taken for suicide.

 “What are you-?!”

“Warping would be dangerous here. The ground just cracked under our feet!”

_Oh and now he sounds a bit like Ignis…_

“They need our help, Aulea!” His shout was followed by another howl of Titan.

“I know! I know, but-…. killing ourselves won’t help them at all. We need to get to them some other way.”

“It would be too late!”

“It would be too late already then.” He shook his head. Aquila frowned but sighed and nodded, putting the hand with his weapon down.

“Fine. But do you know **_where_** should we go?”

“I know-… I might have an idea.” Noctis admitted with slight nod, his eyes scanning the terrain quickly.

_There should be a way…. If it didn’t change too much._

“Let’s go then, we can’t waste time here. “ Aulea raised his sword, putting it over his shoulder, trying to remain calm as the ground started to shake again – movement working as alarm to his words.  
Noctis walked over to the cliff, looking down. Some of the stones cracked, showing a small space. He crouched, sliding downhill from it. Fortunately, he didn’t end up in lava or anything worse.

“It’s safe!” He turned around, calling out after Aquila as he stood up, walking next to the stone wall carefully. Aquila followed Noctis quickly. There was another tremor, a massive stone palm emerging from the dust – heading right in their direction. 

“Head down!” He screamed, quickly pushing the Raven’s head lower as Titan’s hand hit the place just few centimeters above them, ruining the stone wall, sending them flying for mere seconds.  
They ended up on the ground a few meters below, coughing. Noctis rolled over with a hiss. Fortunately, it looked like he was still in one piece and all his bones – even though they hurt – were still intact, so he couldn’t really complain in this case. He tried to get on his feet, using stones around him to steady himself.  
“Aquila?” He looked around. The Man, who landed just few meters next to him, was already standing on his feet, pointing at something just on the other side of this platform.

“There!”

Izunia. He, fortunately, seemed alive – his struggling was good proof to it - although half of his body was buried under massive rocks.

“General!” They both quickly hurried to him. Izunia hissed, looking up, noticing both boys.

“You… are alive.” For a second, Noctis thought that he might even be happy to see him. “Where is Ardyn? Where is The King?”

“We… didn’t find him” Aquila looked down. Izunia frowned deeply and struggled again. “Let me help you!”

“I don’t -… You have to find Ardyn, I will take care of myself. You are not here for me. Hurry!”

Noctis looked around. He couldn’t see the future Accursed anywhere here so it meant, he had to of fallen down even lower. Aquila meanwhile tried to get rid of the rubble Izunia was buried under, shaking his head.

“In all politeness, General, _you_ staying _here_ is as dangerous. The wall can collapse anytime, we don’t have any guarantee Titan won’t strike it again and it won’t just fall apart – right on you! _Losing a man won’t help us – we need every capable hand_ , you keep saying that too all the time in camp during our fights.”

Izunia looked down, trying to push a stone again –but he was obviously thinking about what Gladio’s ancestor said since his eyebrows were knitted together in a deep frown, his eyes a bit distant. In the end he sighed, looking up.

“Maybe you are right - but we still can’t risk that The King will die. We are… _You are_ trained for situations like these. ” He said silently. “If I fail, at least one of you have to-“

“One of us.” Aquila pointed out. “Not all of us.”

Noctis frowned.  Izunia looked at him surprised.

_Where was this going?_

“One of us can search for him.” The Man repeated again.

“This is madness.” Izunia shook his head but cried out silently, his voice filled with pain as Aquila managed to free one of his hands. It wasn’t in the best shape. But the rest of his body was still stuck under heavy stones. 

“Madness that seems to be necessary, sir.” The other man said, worried. He looked at Noctis. “I carry a heavy sword and I’m not as swift as you. I might be stronger in question of muscular strength but warping is out of question for me here, right? I’ll be more of use here, helping the general.”

“What-?”

_Oh now he knew EXACTLY where this was going._

 This time it was Izunia, who spoke.

“As much as I don’t like the idea of you two splitting… the situation requires someone who had better experience in fighting and land scouting - and it seemed like in this case it’s you Aulea.”

Noctis looked at both men surprised.

 “You are going to find Ardyn.”

*******

Noctis made a face as he tried to carefully descend down from another cliff that more or less acted like his presence personally offended it, with footholds randomly crumbling away beneath him, slowing his decent even further as he had to constantly check his footing.

Not only had the howling of Titan gotten louder, the ground shaking had also worsened as he descended; he still couldn’t find any signs of life out there.  
Another thing that … worried him? No that wasn’t the word. Bothered him? Yes, that sounded right - was his _current_ goal: _Protecting Ardyn._

_He came here to **stop** Ardyn – that should be his goal. Now he is saving his life? And he doesn’t feel bad about it. Just… confused._

He sighed, putting his feet down, to try the stability of stone, descending further.

_What has gotten into him? He wanted to get closer to him, observe him – and yes he accomplished that to a great extent. But also to find something that would indicate that the circle they were all stuck in would end.  
Instead of that he just … went with the flow. Excusing it with the fact that he wanted to learn more - by watching him, waiting for the right moment to strike – because what if killing him off while he was still mortal didn’t work? Besides that, mindless killing didn’t really work for him- that was quite obvious._

He hissed. The temperature was rising again.

_‘But… Wasn’t that right moment just now?’_

He took another careful step down. The ground under his feet was secure, thank the Six. He turned around, the tiny voice in his mind still tugging on the strings of his thoughts.

_‘Stop him, Noctis… You know how his story goes.’_

Another inhuman sound from The Titan and suddenly Noctis’ blue eyes noticed something. Fast flickering of purple light in distance. It wasn’t that close but it was on this platform for sure!

“Armiger…?”

Noctis sighed in slight relief. There he was. He started to walk there quickly, his steps turning into running.  
He didn’t know if he wanted to run closer to Ardyn or just to get away from the voice inside his head.

_‘Why would you ignore your duties as The Chosen King - to get rid of The Accursed?’_

One step, two steps; hand raised to form a weapon, a rush of energy in Noct’s veins as he threw it, crossing distance only few others could do in such a short moment.

_‘Didn’t you want to help your friends in future? Are you still thinking you are doing this all just because of that?’_

Again… and again! A pause only for a few seconds, to pull out Ether and crack it, just to feel that sweet adrenaline in him again so he could warp strike again closer to the redhead.

_‘Oh, your poor heart softened because you saw the man care for someone other than himself? Only after so short period of time?  
But isn’t that ridiculous, dear Noctis?’_

Ardyn was lying on the ground, the Armiger around him working as magical shield if Titan tried to make bloody dust out of him again.  
The Monster raised His hand.  
But if Ardyn Lucis Caelum was weak… Could even the magic beyond the worlds survive this kind of hit?

_‘Oh! You’ve got invested in another dangerous story while you’ve tried to help yourself out of another.’_

And strike.  
Noctis’ Engine Blade collided with massive palm of the Archaean just in the second it was about to kill The King of Lucis.

_‘It means more relationships... More bonds…’_

“Aulea?!” Ardyn looked at Noctis surprised, his armiger disappearing in millions of small lights.

And he wasn’t the only one. Titan straightened, looking at small human, who just probably stopped him from killing the man.

Noctis hissed, raising his blade again if Titan had another great idea to attack them again.  
But one of the Stars just looked at him for a while – it looked like time froze in this very moment - and then howled again.

Ardyn behind him cried out silently. Noctis quickly glanced at redhead.

 _“_ Prove yourself worthy then, human creature, not just by words.” He repeated in a whisper and looked at the God above them. “And here I thought you all would like to leave conflicts behind for a while.” He hissed but summoned his glaive once more and tried to stand up.

“Where is Valtieri?” He asked silently. “And Aquila?”

“He got… stuck under some stones. Aquila is trying to help him.” Noctis helped the man get back on his feet, allowing himself a few moments of relaxation before he raised his hand with the Engine Blade again.

“He still repeats that to me - but he is the one that should be more careful.” Ardyn looked around, his eyes scanning ground quickly, as if in search of something. He frowned after a while, clicking his tongue. He turned at young man next to him.

“Are you up for some parrying lessons, Noctis?”

_‘And now, it will be more and more difficult to let go of them… or solve them… as time comes, won’t it?’_

 “… yes, Your Majesty.” Noct nodded. Was this answer to his inner voice or to Ardyn? He didn’t know anymore.

 The King smiled slightly.

“Then we can’t make our old friend here wait for us to prove the worth of humanity.” He looked at Titan. “Can you back me up? I need to pick something up, which is probably important to officially form a covenant. “

_The Trident…_

The Archaean raised his hand again. Ardyn looked at Noctis and nodded.

“Be ready….. Now!”

The King threw his weapon, warping away from the spot, closer to the place, where Archaean was rising from the ground. Titan was about to change the direction of his hit on him but Noctis warped to his palm, slashing it with sword. Astral turned to look at Noctis again, which allowed Ardyn to buy some time, just to warp again.  
Noctis quickly took out one of magic flasks he had in pocket next to curatives. He knew very well what Blizzara was capable of. He threw it, the flask cracking after hitting Titan’s arms. The Monster’s attention was now fully on him. He was ready to strike his hand again, to deliver the fatal blow to the damaged limb, but in the corner of his eyes, he noticed as Astral’s other hand was headed in his direction.

_Oh shit-!_

 “ARCHAEAN!”

The air was filled with sudden sharp light and sound of The Archaean growling. Noctis couldn’t help but back off slightly, covering his eyes with his arm.

_What the-?_

Ardyn was standing just a few feet from Titan and it looked like he was the source of the light. Noctis would snort over how idyllic it looked, just like some scene from a fantasy movie, if he wasn’t worried that Titan might attack them again.  
But The God… He probably even forgot that Noctis existed for few seconds. Noct’s eyes were also focused on Ardyn now, who looked like all the weakness and sickness disappeared from him.

“I am Ardyn Lucis Caelum! The Healer of Humanity, The First King of newborn Lucis, the human Guardian of The Crystal and Ring of Lucii!” Ardyn raised his voice, his eyes shining brightly. Titan straightened, the ground shaking again. “I don’t seek to fight for power – not even with you; I intend no harm. Isn’t that enough proof, I ask you Stars, to not find a pleasure in killing?! I do not wish for more wars, now or later!” He shouted. “I swear and I’ll say it again if needed, I will use this power of Light…” He raised his hand with the weapon of Oracle. “… To not bring darkness on Eos, ever again – and fulfill the Prophecy of the Chosen King!”

Ardyn put Trident down after few seconds of silence.

“And I’m ready to pay the price it will take – that only you and the Chosen know about!”

Noctis’ eyes widened.

_He … knew he will…_

Titan watched Ardyn silently and then, the small yellow lights enveloped Ardyn’s aura, two magics mixing into one that was new, more powerful – something that only the blessing of Stars could create. Archaean allowed it – let Ardyn borrow his power because he showed he was ready. The world went white for a moment.

When Noctis could see clearly again, Ardyn was standing on the field alone, Titan disappeared as if he never was there. ( _He probably came back after Ardyn’s Betrayal but that was another story to uncover_.)  
The King turned to Noctis, motioning his hand, the Trident disappearing into thin air. He walked over to him.

“How do you feel, Aulea?”

“I’m… fine. “ Noctis said silently. “Your Majesty…”

“Ardyn.”

“… you and The Astrals -”

Ardyn raised his hand and shook his head. “That’s a debate for another time.” He said silently and although he smiled, it didn’t reach his eyes. A clear sign that this was the end of discussion about the events here unless the redhead started to talk about them himself.  “Let’s group up with the others and make sure they are okay. Will you show us the way up, if you would be so kind, Noct?”

Noctis nodded slowly and looked up.

“Are you up for some climbing, Your Majesty?”

*******

  
“Hold still, it won’t hurt. You should have gotten used to this after our time together in The War.”

“I don’t need healing, Ardyn, I’ll be okay.”

“Of course. Your hand and leg is probably broken and we can’t risk Scourge possibly infecting the wound.”

“That wasn’t an injury from a daemon.”

“That stone could be infected with the blood of some or worse, with –“

“I think I don’t want to hear more, Your Majesty!”

Aquila laughed. Noctis next to him watched the scene silently.

Not even two hours ago, they were facing the raging Archaean, one of the Gods alone and now, they were sitting around the fire in the camp, making fun of it. No one complained about the dust and dirt caught on their cheeks or the sore muscles. They were glad everyone got out of there in one piece. Aquila managed to free Izunia from under the stones while Noct and Ardyn were fighting Archaean on the lower platforms and they seem okay too… In a way.  
But there was still something haunting the Raven’s mind.  
Ardyn’s last words to Archaean before he disappeared after giving his blessing to the young King.

_“And I’m ready to pay the price it will take – that only you and the Chosen know about!”_

Ardyn knew about the price the cleansing of Starscourge would take.  
 It didn’t seem to be the same as Noctis’ – who had to fight The Usurper of the World even in the Beyond so he had to sacrifice his own body… But it could be very close to it.

_Would Ardyn try to release so much healing power his body couldn’t hold it? It was still a sacrifice for his people. And he was … fine with it?  
But why wouldn’t he tell everyone? To not to make them worry?  _

_‘Why are YOU asking that Noctis? You should know that the best…’_

Izunia raised his eyes after a while – as Ardyn was finally satisfied that he was able to heal The General, watching the faces of the two boys in front of him. Then, he bowed his head slightly, interrupting Noctis from his thoughts.

“You proved your dedication, when I wasn’t able to protect The King. You not only saved my life in a way but thank you both, The King was able to forge a covenant with the Astral. I think a thank you is in order here.” He said quietly.  “Also I apologize for some of my … acting before. And for doubting your skills” He glanced at the raven haired male.

Noctis looked away quickly, scratching the back of his neck. He knew that this was meant for him - more or less.

“Yeah…No big deal.”

“Noctis here is right.” Aquila grinned. “And skill comes from the hard training you gave us, sir.”

Ardyn chuckled. “Don’t beat yourself up over this, Valtieri.”

“I’m not. I just know that the proper thank you and apology is in order.” The General sighed, shaking his head weakly.  “But don’t you think I’ll let you and Aulea slack off during training. They still stay as they were before.” He said firmly but there was actually a hint of an amused smile framing his features. 

“Not even one day off?”

“Maybe I will allow a few hours.” He raised his eyebrow and shook his head with a snort. Ardyn stood up, watching General with amused expression.

“I will think that’s enough for you, my dear Izunia. You are going to sleep now.”

“Ardyn-“

“I shall accept no protests.” Ardyn pulled one of blankets closer, wrapping them around Izunia’s form. “Let the boys breathe tonight and let them have some fun.”

The General huffed and rolled his eyes slightly.

“Did you roll your eyes at me, Valtieri?”

Aquila started to laugh as the strict man tried to get away from The King, protesting loudly as Ardyn tried to wrap more blankets around him.  
It was the most human reaction Noctis saw from Izunia until now and couldn’t help but grin too, pushing the worries into back of his mind. But there was still that small voice, tugging on the strings of his thoughts carefully, speaking in silent warnings.

_‘It’s easy to tangle yourself in different stories but it hurts to let go, dear Prince.’_

* * *

 

The fight in the present with the Archaean went as usual. Involving stones falling apart, getting separated from the group ( _Noctis had to chuckle over that. It always happened to him as if some kind of omen_ ) and he had a small talk with Gladio.  
The Guys using magic flasks to evoke Blizzara, the idea he alone stole for fight in the Past.  
As Noctis fought the Astral and was about to accept his blessing, he knew he would show him a vision with Luna in it – her, trying to ask Astrals to help Noctis – he expected it as images started to show up in his mind accompanied with pain…

_Luna speaking with Raging Titan with Trident of Oracle in her hand…  
\- The flashing of a red light in the darkness, Ardyn’s face twisted in rage, his angry screaming and then the silence sending chills down the spine of the young prince._

Noctis’ eyes snapped open.

“What is-?!”

But Titan didn’t give any more answers. The fight just continued the way it did before. He could vaguely hear the voices of his friends, Gladio shouting at him to wake up and move.  
Only Ignis’ hand on his shoulder woke him up from the trance as the magitek ships exploded around them. The impact site was slowly turning into a more and more dangerous place, lava pooling from craters around them.

And then, just in time, the only imperial ship that was left out of Archaean’s deadly rage showed up.

*******

“Welcome on board, gentlemen.” 

The mocking smile that usually adorned Chancellor’s features in world of present was back. Noctis had to admit that even if he knew that man was up to no good in this time, it felt a bit off to see Ardyn like this after a while with him in Past Eos. Or maybe only it felt a bit off because of that vision Titan offered him, he didn’t know. But it bothered him nonetheless.

“I certainly hope you enjoy your ride with us here on this small ship. First of all, before you ask – we are heading for Lestallum – precisely to the back entrance of it, since we don’t want to frighten anyone. People don’t really like the sight of Imperial ships above their homes, am I right?”

Prompto, who stood right next to the young prince shifted uncomfortably, mumbling something about old creepy dudes, but he quickly closed his mouth, freezing in place as Ardyn glanced his way.  
Fortunately, Ignis cleared his throat, drawing attention of redhead to himself.

“We are in your debt for helping us out of the meteor impact site, Chancellor Izunia.” It was clear Specks didn’t like to admit it, the words forming on his tongue out of politeness. Nothing else but sheer professionalism usually reserved for those political meetings behind the closed doors of The Citadel. He opened his mouth to add something but Ardyn interrupted him with a smirk.

“My dear Advisor, I said something very similar to your sweet prince yesterday and I will repeat it here again. I believe it was something between lines of ‘You might find the car fare more than you bargained for’, right?” He glanced at Noctis and shrugged. “And it’s not just with fares, debts are quite a similar thing, I think we all can agree to that. In simple words, word ‘debt’ had quite strong meaning and it can bring very unfortunate future your way if you weren’t able to repay it.” He said, amused, his eyes darkening. “And we don’t want that, hm? I can only imagine how risky must be running away from Empire and hiding your identity, we can’t add more to that.”

Ignis frowned deeply, Gladio stepping in front of Noctis out of reflex. Prince watched Ardyn tiredly.

“You are saying that you are letting us go for free then?”

“You mean not flying right to the Niflheim with you, my Royal guests? Oh no, I just reacted to your silly words.” Ardyn shook his head. It looked like situation amused him to a great extent. “You were in debt but it is no more as it was taken care of.”

“Taken care of? What do you mean?” Gladio asked firmly.

“I’m afraid your beloved car was taken into our custody while you were busy fighting The Astral, so you will have to walk those few kilometers. Or… Climb it, to be more precise, but I’m not quite sure about your expertise in that area after seeing your performance on the Disc. “

“What the-?!” Ignis quickly squeezed Gladio’s shoulder from doing anything risky.

“We understand.” The Ash blonde man said, fixing his glasses.

“But- Iggy!” Prompto looked at him confused.

“Noct?” The Prince knew that his Advisor was seeking his confirmation. He sighed and nodded, crossing his arms. He already knew about the plan Ignis was just forming in his head and besides – trying anything else here on Niflheim ship that was full of MTs and Ardyn would be too dangerous since they were only four.

“Ignis is right.”

“What a great deal then!” Ardyn clasped his hands, stepping aside. “Now, if you don’t mind…”

_Even if we did there wouldn’t be other choice._

“I need to ask you to stay here, in this room.” He walked to one of mechanical doors, opening it easily. It reminded Noctis more of storage than anything else. “I’m sure when your time comes someone will escort you, we will be there shortly. But we don’t want to confuse someone on the ship and…. Cause more troubles.”

“How we can be so sure you won’t trap us there and fly with us right to the Niffs, huh?”

Gladio raised his voice again.

“How shameful, you don’t believe me even after we’ve decided we had a deal.” Ardyn clicked his tongue. “But let me assure you I am a man of the word, I-“

“Last time it was a man of no consequence. And here you are being the Chancellor of the Empire.” Gladio crossed his arms, glaring in Ardyn’s direction. The Redhead smiled at him, but his eyes stayed cold, dangerous… Prompto’s eyes were nervously darting from one man to another and Noctis swear he would be able to cut the atmosphere even literally if he tried.

Once again, the tension was bravely interrupted by Ignis and The Raven could only wonder, how many times Iggy saved their butts.

_Yeah, too many to count._

“Thank you, Chancellor Izunia. We will take our leave now. “He said firmly, his voice carrying a warning, a clear sign that this was the end of further discussion even for Gladio. He didn’t give him a chance to protest.  
Ardyn glanced at Ignis, finally breaking eye contact with the Shield.

“Of course. Very well then.” He raised his hat from his head, bowing mockingly. “It was an honor to meet you. But as you said, it’s time to take leave now.” He nodded, walking past them slowly. Ignis frowned but nodded, also heading to the direction of the room that the redhead showed them, followed closely by Prompto, a frowning Gladio and Noctis as the last one. They looked more like ducklings following their big mother duck away from danger in form of a predator.

“I’m very glad you learned that there are consequences for your actions.”

The Young Prince almost froze in place and quickly turned in surprise. But no, The Chancellor just continued his way down the ship, waving to them nonchalantly and then disappearing in one of the rooms too.  
Noctis’ blue eyes were looking at the darkness, still wide from shock.

“Noct?”

He closed them and sighed, turning at the rest of his group and nodded.

“Yeah- I just… dozed off. Sorry.” He rubbed back of his head, ignoring their worried expressions as they walked into the storage room, doors closing after them.

It wasn’t the sentence that troubled him – it could be easily meant for every one of them after this conversation – and Prompto, Gladio and Ignis took it as another one of Ardyn’s mocking phrases.

But for Noct there was something scarier about it as a whole.

_He hadn’t said that before._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and welcome to 7th chapter of Turning Point! I really hope you enjoyed this chapter at least a bit! Great thanks goes once again to my dear [Alpaca](http://alpacaduelist.tumblr.com/), who spends her time BETAing this fanfic!  
> You are amazing!
> 
> I'm really sorry about late update ! Waah, it's been two months of inactivity here, right? Don't worry, I didn't forget about the fic - yep, I'm going to finish this, because I'm enjoying writing this little monster of story too much. Just... Let's be honest. The first year of my uni was ending so I had shittons of exams, found a new part time job - it was quite a challenge to squeeze writing and hobbies into the whole mess. And as an magnificent ado - I've got a writing block because of fighting scene and literally spent two and more days just gazing at word "Archaean" here.  
> But I'm glad I was able to finish this somehow, even tho' I consider this one to be weakest of chapters - since we don't really move with plot here.  
> But anyway!
> 
> I would like to thank all of you, who read this fic, leave feedback, kudos, comments; who just clicks on this- You are amazing and I'm so happy you seem to enjoy reading this fanfiction. I've never expected so much of support - It means a world to me and it fuels me with determination to continue!  
> You are bestest, my readers. 
> 
> Scream with me about Ardynoct, FFXV or anything else really on my [Tumblr](http://aryssiamatsuri.tumblr.com) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/AbikChan)? I would love to talk with you, everyone! :3
> 
> See you hopefully very soon!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still alive! Surprisingly! More in the notes at the end! 
> 
> Also, some readers asked me how I imagine Izunia for this story - [and here is the answer!](https://kircheisintheworld.tumblr.com/post/169236422689/people-sometimes-ask-me-how-i-imagine-izunia-or)
> 
> Enjoy the chapter!

“Watch out!”

Aquila pushed Noctis away, his sword carving into the flesh of the charging wild Garula, who staggered slightly and howled, trying to push The Shield of the King down into the mud. He dug his heels into the dirt, in an attempt to stand his ground.

The raven haired boy smirked and summoned his Engine blade, warping to the Garula, delivering a blow to its side.

“Heeey, kid, it’s rude to steal someone else’s target!”

“You did it first.”

Suddenly, the sound of an explosion rang out. Both  men were blown away from the animal, a cruel blizzard biting into their flesh. Noctis managed to sit up somehow, covering his face with hand, shielding his eyes from the raging snow thunder.

“I believe this is feast worthy of a King, boys.”

Ardyn crouched a few steps from them now facing the animal - which absolutely didn’t look pleased with the magic surrounding it.  The man’s hair was ruffled by the chilly air, his clothes whipping around him in the strong winds – one would maybe say that this… position wasn’t one that would lead to victory - but he looked so pleased with himself, grinning widely.

“Valtieri!” He raised his hand, gathering another wave of magic in his veins. The General seemingly appeared out of nowhere, using Ardyn’s back as a support for his warp-strike, summoning his daggers and in one swift movement delivering a strong blow to its side. Before the Garula could react and attack him, he threw his dagger in Ardyn’s direction, teleporting back to him.

“Ardyn, now!”

The redhead, now standing, grabbed him by his hand, pushing him behind himself. He smirked and sent another wave of magic energy towards the animal, hitting it with full force and delivering the final blow.  
It howled and collapsed, no longer moving. Izunia and Ardyn both grinned, glancing at Noctis and Aquila who were still on the ground. The General went closer to them, offering his hand, to help them both stand back up.

 “It seems like you need to work on your teamwork. Two more hours today.”

_Of course. OF COURSE._

Noctis and Aquila couldn’t help but groan.

“That’s unfair.”

“If I hear any more complaints, I’m adding an extra hour of training for every last one of them. Take it as a lesson and a warning, next time I want to see you cooper-“ Izunia stopped mid-sentence, looking up with wide eyes. The raven frowned. There wasn’t many things that made The General speechless. Both, The Shield and Noctis turned around – and their jaws dropped.

“Oh no… Ardyn!” Izunia’s voice raised dangerously.

“How are we going to bring it to camp?” The King was looking at the Garula curiously, walking around it, probably trying to remember if there is some hidden spell in Lucian magic that would allow you to lift a few tons of meat into the air.

“Your Majesty, would you listen every once in a while?!” Valtieri hissed as he began to back away carefully.

“I’m listen-… Oh.”

The redhead looked right were others were staring – meeting eyes with a herd of angry Garulas. At least 20 of them. Running straight at the group of four men.

“How big are our chances?”

Well, Izunia’s hands grabbing The Kings collar and dragging him behind himself, while Noctis and Aquila ran just after them was probably enough of an answer.

“Seems like we will eat plants this evening, once again.”

After the battle on the impact site of the meteor, they headed to Past Duscae, trying to find the second Astral - Ramuh, the Fulgurian, God of Thunder.  
Ardyn seemed much better than during the time they were searching for Archaen, his sickness subsiding. He could focus on the search of sleeping Gods much more these days, often informing others of certain updates.

“His presence is stronger with each moment. To be honest I was surprised at first, since legends say he went to sleep in the prison of Angelgard.”

_Shiva told that to Noctis too, once._

“Nonetheless, it seems like we will need to wait a bit longer.” Ardyn sighed, putting map down. He looked up, watching lazy clouds rolling in the never ending blue above.  “After pleasant days always comes a storm, my dear friends. And we should be ready for those moments.”

“I don’t want to sound rude, Your Majesty, but you sounded ominous.” Aquila mumbled. Noctis next to him couldn’t help the loud snort that escaped his mouth.

_‘Well... In the future Ardyn’s presence alone was kinda a synonym for that word. He didn’t even need to open his mouth’_

“Don’t worry, my dear Amicitia, it was just a figure of speech.” Ardyn grinned and Izunia sighed deeply, shaking his head.

“We should replenish our supplies along the way.”

“Great idea, I have to agree with Valtieri.”

“At least in something, Ardyn.”

So they resorted to collecting supplies along the way, trying to restock with enough food and water for their next travels. Sometimes successfully, sometimes not.  
Yes, Noctis took strong dislike to Garulas over a few unfortunate events that left him glaring at dried vegetables for dinner. But other than that he felt…

_Free, when he warp-striked through the air, wind dancing though his hair._

Carefree when they laughed around the fire over one of the redhead’s ridiculous stories, Izunia shaking his head with an amused expression, pointing out that “ _No, Ardyn, it indeed wasn’t like that, you are making things up again_ ”.

And when they watched the wild chocobos race across the wide grassy fields and he shot others challenging look as he nudged Ravia (He decided to name his Chocobo after Ravus. It was petty _as hell_ , but it reminded him so much of the man he couldn’t help it. And let’s be honest, Ravus _would_ try to bite off Noctis’ hand if he had chance. Maybe not literally, but those judging eyes he always gave him even as kids… Yes, he and Ravia had a lot in common) to run faster, Aquila and Ardyn immediately taking up the challenge, trying to take the lead.

It was a surprise, when Izunia was one to win the race, smirking at them victoriously.

_How easy it was to get lost in the reality that seemed so idyllic? Where their problems were so small compared to those of his reality. When the time you didn’t have didn’t matter at all._

_Too easy._

_It would make you forget._

_Just to come back full force._

_As Ardyn said._

_After the sun always comes storm._

*** * ***

Noctis sighed as a fresh breeze caressed his hair. He looked up. The night sky over his head was dark like ink, no signs of any stars, or even the moon. This along with the heavy humidity of the air, the young prince could be almost sure it was going to rain sometime soon.

_Finally._

To be completely honest, it was quite a nice change from the heat that had lasted for the past few days. Maybe they should find a more sheltered camp but – _yeah_.

_‘It could wait for another minute or two. Let this peaceful moment last for a while.’_

The boy closed his eyes and sighed deeply.

_Peaceful?_

He wished. The silence was only interrupted by the clashing of weapons, Aquila and Izunia were training together but he was so used to the sound by now, he hardly found it disturbing.  He was up next, but…they only started a moment ago, so there was really no use in rushing things. Instead of joining them, he slowly went down the path to the source of the lightning and fire energy. More private, but still close and safe enough – out of daemonic reach. Enough to clear your head – or sort some things out in there.

_After all, everything he tried to push away during the last few days caught up with him now._

Ardyn’s voice was resonating in his head louder than ever before, words The Prince heard in the Imperial ship biting deep into his thoughts. He tried to convince himself that it was just a coincidence – after all, a few small things or sentences always altered during the repeating time loop but…

_It’s not like he wasn’t happy something’s been changing. Just Ardyn noticing as the first….? Not to mention that vision after their fight with Titan. Something just didn’t feel right._

He shook his head and sat down. Maybe he shouldn’t think about it now, it’s like he thought before – one unimportant sentence that changed, and he was making a big deal out of it-

_‘But really, Noct? And **when** do you want to think about it, huh? It’s Ardyn for Six’s sake. Also, Cindy will call you soon, informing you, where the Regalia is. And Gentiana will appear to tell you about the blessings of Ramuh, there is no way you will just wait and-‘_

“Lost in thoughts, I see.”

Noctis blinked in surprise and turned around.

_Talk about devil, huh?_

Ardyn was smiling at him. “What a chilly evening we have, right? May I join you?”

The boy just nodded slowly as the future Chancellor of Niflheim sat down next to him. “Even though it’s nice to see Aquila and Valtieri bond over training and their shared interests – and I do have to admit it’s fascinating to observe different fighting styles – but that can wear off after watching it numerous times during one journey.”

“Hmmm…”

“But I’ve noticed you two are finally getting along. If I may call it that?” The redhead glanced at Noctis and continued when he saw the raven’s questioning look. “I mean you and Valtieri. It’s a nice change, after those forced smiles and tense looks you gave each other in the beginning.”

“Oh. Yeah, I see. As I said – can’t blame him for before, I guess.”

“We never continued our conversation on that topic back then. I think we got distracted with Chocobos.”

Noctis chuckled silently. “Yeah.”

“Care to illuminate the subject for me?”

“Maybe because I am a complete stranger that brought an Iron Giant to Insomnia in his eyes? I wouldn’t welcome a person like that with open arms either, probably.” He said silently.

“I had to admit you made quite an entrance. That is without a doubt.” Ardyn leaned against the wall behind him. “But there was no evidence of you doing anything harmful to the people – quite contrary, you saved one of the citizens during the attack. I couldn’t sense any daemons inside you either. And after some time together, I dare say it also seems like you don’t plan to do something that would wipe out civilization or any one of us here.” He chuckled silently. “But don’t forget to inform me, when you change your mind.”

Noctis snorted and shook his head. A comfortable silence stretched between the two men for a while as they both watched the skies above - as if waiting for at least one ray of moonlight to appear.

Ardyn’s voice was the first to break the peace.

“You’ve introduced yourself as a traveler. Wanderer, to be more exact.”

Noct glanced at him and nodded slightly.

“Yeah.”

_Well, it wasn’t entirely a lie, when he thought about it._

“That makes the both of us, in a way. I’m outside of The Kingdom more than inside it these past few months.” The redhead said softly.

“You are traveling across Eos because of The Scourge, right?”

“Precisely. And for diplomatic meetings. Land reconstruction. The list is getting longer day by day. Oh, the Kings duties.” He frowned slightly. “How I _love_ regular visits to Niflheim. None of the official business is with any of my favorites too. Just don’t tell Vatieri that I said this.” The man grinned.

“I can imagine.” Noctis chuckled, shaking his head.

_He could. Pretty well._

_And that remark about The General reminds him of something he brought up before…_

“Before when you mentioned Izunia – Valtieri, I mean. You said that he is like family to you.”

“Oh, you still remember that.” Ardyn hummed. “‘Brother’ is the word I would use, I believe.”

“I see.”

“You must have been wondering about other things I’ve said then.”

_‘There IS a huge list, if you wanted to know but I doubt you would answer everything.’_

“… About him being the first thing I remember.”

_Yes, this one is there too._

Noctis nodded. He still had the scene from that night buried in his head and even now when it was mentioned, he could almost literally feel the drop of atmosphere from back then on his skin. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to bring it up even in this moment.  
But The King didn’t seem like he minded, so the young boy added carefully.

“He seemed a bit…angry, after you’ve stated that.”

“I don’t blame him – I shouldn’t remind him.”

_Of what?_

The spark of curiosity inside of Noctis was turning into a flame as he thought that at least some of his questions might be answered.  
Thank the Six, Ardyn sighed and continued.

“It was probably during the first years of The Old War, when it happened. They found me close to The Rock of Ravatogh, not in my best condition – severely hurt, several burns on my body. My eyes couldn’t adjust to the light. ‘On the verge of death’ and ‘it was a miracle, you survived’ – that’s what they told me. The people who found me - Valtieri among them, as I found out later - transported me to a place, which is now Tenebrae – a healing spot, the only place where people could feel safe as The Scourge started to ravage the land.”

Noctis looked at the man in surprise. Ardyn noticed and chuckled softly.

“Well, as charming as I look right now, I’ve had my days when I looked like a mess.” He shook his head. “Valtieri appeared a few weeks later and I had the chance to learn what had happened. They were searching for survivors after The Ravatogh erupted. It was the site of one of the battles against Ifrit, during the battle the dormant volcano came to life. I was the only one left alive.”

 “So…”

“He blames himself for not getting there sooner. Even before, others called him General Izunia. Later, he told me that he inherited a title from one of his ancestors – they were some kind of Solheim Royalty. Unfortunately, his whole family succumbed to The Plague of Stars in its start. But I think he still felt responsible for the people in a way.”

Noctis turned his head around, glancing at Aquila and Amicitia bathed in the orange glow of the fire pit. They were fighting, not hearing a single word of the story Ardyn was sharing with him.

“He still… remembers Solheim then?”

“Well, I probably would too. At least last days.” Ardyn sighed. “He doesn’t want to talk about it. And I won’t force him.”

“I see.”

It was unusual to hear Ardyn talk like this – all serious.  
They stayed silent for a while, Noctis turning back. Now that he thought about Izunia, it was no surprise the man acted like he did at first. After all, their first meeting was his accidental summoning of a Giant in the middle of the freshly rebuilt Crown City. He was afraid. Afraid that The Scourge was close,  _too close_ to something he loved and cared for.

The Prince glanced at Ardyn. There was probably more to this story – and he couldn’t suppress his curiosity, as another question escaped his lips.

“How did you recover?”

Ardyn grinned and clasped his hands. 

_Yes, of course. He loves to talk and now he has an audience…_

Noct smiled.

“Easily and faster than anyone else, what was great surprise to everyone around me. And it.. I mean surprising recoveries… didn’t just stay with me.” The Redhead looked at his hands. “I guess it was the real start of this whole thing. I was able to drag The Scourge out of people. Not once, or twice. Multiple times. Soon not only people knew but Gods too…”

“Huh?”

“It got worse, the Scourge. There were people dying outside the walls of healing spots. More and more came to Tenebrae… That’s when the first messenger came too. _‘They want to speak with you, Healer of the People’_. I have the feeling they always like to act all mysterious.” He chuckled. “Long story short, the most beautiful part of it all was the face of current Queen of Tenebrae – Lutea Nox Fleuret - when Bahamuth casually descended from the sky into that small hospital wing. I shouldn’t feel that kind of satisfaction every time I talk about it but… It’s difficult to after she didn’t believe me.” He snorted as he noticed Noctis’ face.

“Well, it’s not everyday someone weird you found in the middle of burning fields heals a whole bunch of people, is it? And then supposedly a divine entity appears out of nowhere in front of already mentioned person telling him that he is The Savior of the People destined to cure the Starscourge and travel the lands because of it...” He laughed. “She was sharp and open about her opinions. Still is. Straight forward woman. Strong. People like her. Her daughter inherited most of it. I can see why Valtieri admires them. Even though I’m not … Fond of that family, you can say...”

Noctis frowned, crossing his arms. 

_Could it be Luna’s ancestors? All the books taught him that the line of Nox Fleuret ruled the Kingdom from the very beginning as the first Oracles after Bahamuth descended from skies, giving them the Trident –_

_Which is now in Ardyn’s hands. Seems like the line of succession happened completely differently after all. At least for the first one._

 “Were there problems with –“

“After Bahamuth’s visit? No. The Queen wasn’t happy about the situation the Messenger translated to her, she still she didn’t trust me – but in the end, she agreed to let me go, as the number of the sick raised up day by day. But not alone.”

“… Valtieri.”

“Exactly. She couldn’t leave Tenebrae because of her duties and the nights full of daemons were dangerous. There was no way others would let her risk her life – even though she was courageous enough and I’m sure she would take few deamons out without a blink of an eye. But The Queen was always able to find someone.”

He paused for a moment as if lost in his thoughts, his memories possibly forming images in his mind. It didn’t last for long though. Ardyn spread his hands in a theatrical gesture.

“And so, Valtieri and I embarked on a journey blessed by the Stars with heroic duties to be done!” He laughed silently. “It wasn’t that ideal, not at all. Yes, Izunia acted a bit nicer than Queen Lutea but he spoke his mind nonetheless. Plus, I needed to learn how to fight since the lands were dangerous.”

He made a grimace.

“I’ve landed on my face more times than I can count. You have my sympathies, boy. Yet, he still thinks I should be training more and that I’m slacking off.” He turned his gaze at Valtieri and a mischievous grin appeared on his face. “Not that it’s not true.”

Even the raven haired boy couldn’t help the snort that escaped his mouth. The King’s eyes stayed on Valtieri and the shadows dancing across the campfire, the sound of metal clattering filling the night as his and Aquila’s sword collided. His eyes darkened a bit, dark clouds hiding the spark in them.

“During our travels… Sometimes we found just hollow fields, not even a single human in sight because the War and sickness already took their toll there. Where once stood monumental buildings, now only ashes remained. A sad and disturbing sight.” The redhead continued. “But even in the middle of that whole disaster, we found one small life able to survive. One small black chocobo.”  
  
He smiled softly.

_Oh… yeah. He mentioned that Nova was with him since she was a small chick._

“Days were passing by quickly– but we didn’t really notice. The only indication of time running by was seeing Nova grow and Izunia’s beard too. Oh, and occasional visits of messenger or the voices of Gods. Our final destination was The Rock of Ravatogh according to their words – they wanted us to help in the battles. It’s still curious to me, how the War started there and ended there for me. We’ve traveled through Tenebrae, Duscae – through the whole of Eos, almost.” The King sighed. “And we both learned so much. Do you know the roots of The Starscourge, Noctis? Nature couldn’t take any more of the fights of Gods. Craters created by them, their presence – it was all alien to it, to the earth. And poisonous. And it couldn’t fight the sickness anymore. A feast to the daemons that were growing stronger thanks to it.”

_So that’s how the Taelpar Crag was shaped…! And the gorge between Cleigne and Duscae!_

“The poison spread and soon, people started to succumb to it. You can imagine how critical it was as The War continued. There were many to heal, but… not so much time. And Valtieri… Well.” Ardyn looked back at Noctis. “Even though he always said that not everyone can be saved, he never said no to me. He either stayed silent, his disapproval told through his eyes – or he told me in other ways. But never, not even once had he stopped me. Maybe because he saw the magic was helping.” The man mused. “I know he found it strange. Distant, different. Something he didn’t want to come into contact with– that’s why he refuses my treatments even now from time to time – no matter how grave his injuries appear.”

Noctis nodded.

_It was something new to the man. Something he wasn’t used to. A possible danger. He got it now._

“Anyway, let’s continue with the story, shall we?” The King didn’t really wait for Noctis’ approval as he clasped his hands. Of course – not only does he love to talk but probably to listen to himself too. Good for the raven. “Even though we got close to the Ravatogh in the end, it took a while to climb a Volcano, which was now the impact sight of most of the battles of The Great Old War.”

“And of the last one.”

“Indeed. After it came to life when they found me, it didn’t want to go back to sleep. The Shaking ground, warmth – all of it made it worse. Daemons and animals went crazy because of whole situation. We had to clear the way up. Oh. And I can’t forget about the voices.”

Ardyn paused.

“Anger, fury. Betrayal and loss. A deep longing to destroy humanity. It felt as if the thoughts and emotions of the whole world were situated in that small place – that’s how strong Ifrit’s state of mind was. There was no possibility to rest, not even for a person who didn’t have the gift of Hearing.”

A chill ran up Noct’s spine, his stomach twisting. It sounded terrifying. Painful even.

“The sight wasn’t any better. Bahamut and Ramuh circling around the top of the Volcano, pools of lava, fiery explosions - with Ifrit in the middle of it all. Leviathan was even angrier than usual, since she was powerless without her Sea. It was possible for her to come closer only thanks to Shiva and the ice magic she wields. And every time she tried to get closer to Ifrit, he pushed her back with his anger. It seemed like out of all of the Stars that wanted to protect the Eos, he blamed her the most for protecting humanity. Both sides were tired. It was a battle of attrition.”

A glimpse of Shiva’s face flashed through Noctis’ mind, her voice resonating there.

 _‘She hated people. He adored them. And showed her all the amazing things they could do – their courage, their hard work._  
_Thus, The Infernian warmed the ice heart of The Glacian. But humans turned against Ifrit, tried to use Gods as a source of Power… Not stopping there, in the end they tried to be more than them. He became angry – wanted to destroy every little thing Solheim civilization had ever created, wanted to destroy **them** – one by one if needed._  
_But it was a duty of the other Gods to stop him.’_

_In the end, Shiva chose to side with the other Gods._

_Even though they were lovers. That was the destiny of their tragic love story._

_That’s why he was blinded by anger towards her._

Noct nodded slightly. Ardyn didn’t know – at least not back then.

“It took forever to climb the mountain. Bless the Six, they’ve created a small Haven on the top of the mountain. These places were sacred even to Gods. Nothing could touch you – if you remained on the ground of it. If you took even one step out of the circle – there was no help for you anymore. It was a false sense of safety for the night, yes. But it gave you time to prepare for battle – or so we thought.”

“Something happened.” Noctis stated. Ardyn’s tone of voice and words he decided to use gave it away.

“Many things at once, my dear.” He sighed. “The Infernian realized that he might lose if he succumbed to his exhaustion first. His plan was simple - he wanted to destroy Ravatogh, he wanted it to erupt. No. To rip it apart, slaughter lands with this cruel act. The damage to Eos would be greater than ever before. The Scourge, and the explosion of the volcano… It would be the end of the whole world.”

He stayed silent for a while and looked at his hands.

“Oh, I could tell you fairy tales about my heroic actions,” he snorted, “But the final strikes to Ifrit were delivered by Shiva and Bahamut. The only thing I did… was holding Ifrit back for a mere moment.”

Noctis looked at him surprised.

_Was he talking about the power he showed him during the chase in the train…?!_

But Ardyn just continued - reliving the last moments of the Astral War in his mind, his eyes unfocused. Events forming into silhouettes, almost touchable to him.

 “After we saw Gods gathering around the top of the mountain, Valtieri and I hurried there. It was not a good sign. We were so close – but suddenly the ground broke, fire exploding around us – separating us. Well. That’s what we got for not waiting for Shiva. We have luck for ground breaking moments, don’t you think so, Aulea? Titan probably wanted to refresh our memory a bit during our last meeting.”

_Oh. During the blessing._

 “We got separated. Shiva was able to help me, as I fell on a lower platform and Valtieri ended up in the Leviathan’s arms. But it slowed the other Gods down – giving Ifrit the needed time to tear apart the mountain. It was the end. Or so I thought.” The King exhaled. “It felt as if time froze. The world lost its color. Just for few seconds. A surreal experience, let me tell you.” Ardyn frowned.

“Bahamuth froze in the middle of flying, unmoving. The only one who seemed unaffected were the Glacian and the Infernian closest to me. It threw him off. Oh…  I remember his face when he spotted us – his features twisted in anger changed to pure shock for a second and then to raging fury. ‘ _Why are you doing this?!_ _Turning against me. Against your own kind. Blind to the truth. They’ll betray you. They’ll use you!’_ I’ll remember these words for the rest of my life.

I think he didn’t like the idea of a mere human interfering and Shiva joining with him and he tried everything in the last moments of his life to turn her to his side.” He sighed. “In the next moment, everything was back to normal as the air was filled with cold and snowflakes, everything regained its colors. It was Ifrit’s turn to freeze - by the hands of the Goddess. Then, dozens of Swords descended into the Infernian as he collapsed onto ground, not moving. He was finally defeated.”

_So it was **that** power._

Noctis frowned. It almost seemed like Ardyn didn’t even know that the magic he loved to take advantage of in the Present Lucis was his.

_Maybe he learned that after he was demonized and outcast?  2000 years is a long time to practice and figure out things after all._

“So it wasn’t you, who…”

“Stopped Ifrit? No. The Gods were the ones to stop him for the good. As I said – I only bought us some time. Anyway. The War has ended. The Gods retired for a long deserved slumber and I didn’t use the power from that day ever since.”

_Yep, so definitely learned to control it after his fall from grace._

“Ifrit’s body turned into stone adorned the top of the Rock of Ravatogh as one of reminders of the War and its horrors. Things were far from perfect. There was a lot of damage done.” Ardyn sighed but smiled.

 “But people seemed happy. Because even though the state of Eos was a miserable one, there was now hope for a better tomorrow. Repairs started a few months later. Valtieri and I, Queen Lutea and her daughter, Royalties from all around the world, simple people - everyone participated in them, slowly rebuilding each part of Eos. Lucis, Accordo, Tenebrae and Niflheim were born out of the ashes of the old world. More messengers started to appear in Eos– one of them even joined the Royal Family of Tenebrae. Stories started to form, passing from one person to another.” He chuckled. “Some of them were pretty interesting and Valtieri had to firmly state – in a public place on top of everything – that he never had an affair with one certain sea God. I just hope it didn’t get to her ears or our meeting with her will be hell.”

_So this is how it really happened._

Noctis couldn’t say he wasn’t taken aback. He just learned one of the most important parts of history through the eyes of a man that was part of the The Great Old War himself.

_This is why the books were so vague about the events of it. Mentioning only the man without a name. No wonder they wouldn’t reference Ardyn since they’ve tried to erase him completely from history._

 “The days formed into the months and then into years. I think it started with the finishing of building of the Citadel - people in the streets suddenly started calling me Your Majesty. The Savior of Eos. Of course there were some who disagreed and I had to absolve a lot of official meetings and learn – to cite Lutea  – ‘To _act like a polite, royal man fit for the name of Your Majesty - not some kind of vagabond, Ardyn_ ’.” He made a grimace.

_Obviously, he wasn’t very keen on that idea._

Noctis chuckled silently.

“A few months later the coronation took place. It was also the last time I saw any of The Gods with my own two eyes - before this journey. Their voices remained with me but it was a bit different. Back then Bahamuth interrupted his slumber and descended from the sky, granting the Lucis a Crystal – The Soul of Eos and a Ring with its Magic. And he spoke the Prophecy of the Healer that will end The Scourge for good.”

_Oh, yeah. This._

Noctis was itching to ask how Ardyn found out that the price of healing Eos would be his life. Others seemed like they didn’t know he would… sacrifice his whole being. Did the God tell only him in his head?  
But the man told him so much this evening already – he didn’t want to push his luck, really.

_This had to be enough for now._

“This story had a happy end, as you can see, Noct. Insomnia with the Citadel became the new capital city. The monumental building turned into a new home of the Crystal and the Ring of Lucii. And a man with no name and no past finally earned one.”

He smiled.

“Maybe I had a family before – and it’s possible they’d died shortly before they found me. I don’t remember these things. But I remember the fight, I remember people helping on the streets, trying to rebuild cities from the ashes. I remember Valtieri helping me countless times during that journey. From saving my life, to actually trusting me and agreeing to me being King. And,” Ardyn sighed. “As I said before – he is like a brother to me.

We’ve come a long way together.

This is the reason why.”

Noctis sighed.

_Yeah. Brothers. That’s what his friends were to him too._

He smiled slightly. The redhead was right.

_Memories, events, everything they’ve shared. That was what shaped them, their bonds making them into family._

“But enough about me, dear Noct,” Ardyn’s seriousness was gone in a mere second. He looked at the raven with grin. “I’ve shared my story with you and let’s be honest, I have a feeling I would talk you to death soon enough, if I continued.” He clasped his hands. “Now. I’ve been fairly curious about your adventures too. That’s why I asked if you were a traveler in the first place. But it seems like we got a bit carried away. So, care to indulge me?”

There weren’t any malicious intentions hidden behind those amber eyes. Just sheer interest. Noctis sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

_Well, I guess some things won’t kill me…_

“My… adventures, huh?”

“Adventures, family… I’m not picky.”

 _‘It is only fair, Noct. Tell him. Tell him about your family, the people that died because of the War he -’_  
_No._

Noctis shook his head, trying to get rid of the small voice inside of his head.

_‘Not because of the War **this** Ardyn had created. They are different people.’_   
_He learned that here. He did._   
_… Right?_

“My father died.” The Prince said in a quiet voice.

Ardyn frowned. A shadow fell over his features. Maybe now he regretted he had asked.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Starscourge?” The Softness in his voice was back.  
  
The young man shook his head

“No.”

“War then? You must have been so young.”

_‘I am still young. In a way.’_

“Yeah. War.”

_No need to tell him which one._

“If you feel uncomfortable, I didn’t mean to –“

“It happened. Not talking about it won’t change that.”

Even Noctis seemed a bit surprised about his own words. It sounded… so mature. But well. Reliving the same circle over and over teaches you a few things.  
Ardyn closed his mouth. The raven haired man shifted.

“I have friends.” He continued carefully. “We’ve known each other for a while.”

_Few lifetimes by now._

“Friends?”

“Yeah.” He smiled slightly. “We’ve been through a lot. And they always stood by my side.”

He remembered his words, when they pushed Regalia towards Hammerhead.

_‘You make me think that we were close.’_

_Only made him think?_

_No. They become close. Bonds formed in their hearts and souls._

_They become family._

“Where are they now?”

“Huh?”

Noctis blinked.

_Reality check._

“Are they-?”

“Alive? Yeah. They just… couldn’t go with me.” He looked away. This was his burden to carry, his duty to help them after they gave everything to help him – and not only once. “But we will meet again.”

He added, more for himself. Ardyn nodded. The raven haired man was thankful he didn’t pry more. And not only because of the possible exposure.  
They sat in silence for a while. Suddenly, the redhead stood up and stretched his hand towards Noct.

“Eh?”

“After such a heavy conversation, I have a feeling that we both need to get rid of negative moods and energy.” He smirked. “And since I don’t know any better way to burry unwanted thoughts than focusing on something else, I’m taking you under my wing tonight. You are training with me.”

Noctis frowned but snorted.

_‘Do I look that hopeless?’_

“Should I be scared?”

“Now you’ve hurt my feelings, Noct.”

They both laughed as Noctis reached for his hand, tangling his fingers with Ardyn’s and let himself be pulled up to a standing position. The Redhead turned around.

“Valtieri!” The sound of colliding swords ceased. General looked at other curiously.

“I’ll be training with Noctis tonight.”

“You? Training? My ears are probably failing me.” Izunia crossed his arms. “But I’m afraid, you will have to wait for a few moments.”

Ardyn shook his head.

“No need to. We can train in an open space close to camp. The light from the fire and runes can still reach there. It’s relatively safe.”

“Relatively.” Valtieri frowned but sighed and nodded in the end. “Be careful.”

“I always am.”

“Of course, Your Majesty.” Izunia shook his head. The redhead grinned and turned to Noctis.

“Shall we then?” He didn’t give the raven time to protest, pulling him behind himself and down the stone stairs as the boy still didn’t have time to free his hand after the other man helped him up.

They ended up close to The Haven, where the last rays of light could reach but if knocked backwards, there was still a place to not hurt yourself by the stone.

“Is this good idea? I mean going to an open field.”

“No need to worry. As I said to Valtieri – I am careful. This distance is quite safe – Daemons won’t come closer as long as there is a tiny bit of light.” Ardyn chuckled, letting go of Noctis’ hand once they were next to the haven – only to stand in front of him. He summoned his glaive, purple light filling the air for mere seconds. “Shall we, Noct?”

Raven nodded and took position, when-

_“The Once helpless and hapless Prince…”_

_“Don’t let us down.”_

The Prince’s mind filled with memories, painful dejá-vu and he instinctively drawed a sword. For a moment, the grassy field and stones of haven became the ruins of Insomnia. He took a shaky breath in and shook his head, trying to calm down.

_No that won’t happen. Not this time. It’s not happening now._

Ardyn warped close to him and Noctis almost didn’t block the attack that came to his right side -he stumbled backwards, lifting his sword to defend himself as another blow came.  
This time he managed to parry the attack as Ardyn lunged at him with his sword, countering his strikes. Noctis took a few steps back, hissing.  
He lifted his hand, throwing his sword, warping himself away. And once again. Trying to put a distance between them. To have a chance to calm himself. Clear his mind.  
Ardyn frowned but followed, slashing the air. The Raven dodged quickly.

 The light of the camp was slowly fading behind them.

_But isn’t it?_

“Oh c’mon, is this all you can do?”

_Oh no._

It was meant as a teasing joke. A lighthearted one according to the tone of Ardyn’s voice – he saw Noctis fight before, he knew, knew! That he wouldn’t go down so easily. Plus, it missed all the malicious intent from their last fight in the capital city of Lucis. And yet these exact words managed to make everything worse.

Noctis’ throat squeezed. His mind was screaming. And probably not just his mind, judging by the surprise on Ardyn’s face that quickly turned into grin.

“Not one to lose, I believe?”

_‘Why is he acting like he doesn’t know, Noct?’_

Noctis growled and warp-striked to Ardyn with a few attacks following it, making The King reel back. The Redhead parried the last attack, the air filling with blue and red sparks as their swords collided once more. 

_The voices from fight with Titan were back._

Ardyn pushed him backwards as if sensing the young prince’s doubt through his shaking hands that squeezed his weapon. Noctis hissed, his sword slipping from his fingers under the pressure, hitting the ground. He drew his hand back, trying to reach for the glaive but he landed on his face as Ardyn kicked him down.

“Never show your back to your enemy, Noctis.”

Noctis growled, face down on the ground.

_‘You’ve already wasted one chance. Now is the second one. Will you turn your back on it again?’_

_‘…’_

_‘Oh. But wait. This is too funny, Noct. Did you perhaps…?’_

The Raven’s eyes widened. Ardyn frowned, going closer to him.

“Aulea. Are you okay?”

The next few seconds happened too fast. Ardyn flew backwards as Noctis warped at him full- strength, his blade falling out of his hands, disappearing into the mass of shining purple lights. They both hit the ground with grunt, The Prince kneeling over redhead with the raised Engine Blade, trying to catch his breath as adrenaline was pulsing through him.  His fingers trembled around the handle, his palms sweating.

Ardyn’s eyes widened, looking at the boy above him.

“Noct…”

The Boy gasped.

_This was too much._

_Why._

_Why was his mind doing this?! Asking these things?! As if he would do that - grow attached to him, to the Accursed!_

_‘As if you admitted it, Noct.’_

_Developed some kind of feelings towards him!_

“You won’t get me.”

_He promised to the others._

_Not again._

 Ardyn stayed silent, observing The Prince’s face and the hand he held a sword in. He frowned slightly and spoke up firmly, after a while.

“Noctis. I need you to breathe. Take a breath in. And out. Slowly. It will be fine.”

_But he did._

_In the worst way._

_‘Making you **care** for him. **Like** him.’_

“I won’t hurt you. It’s just two of us here.” Ardyn said silently, his eyes not leaving Noctis’ face. “I’m here to help.”

_Help?_

Noctis looked at him weakly, his eyes trying to focus. No amusement. No smirk. No malevolent intention behind the amber eyes. Was that… worry hidden deep in them?  
Ardyn didn’t move an inch to hit him or hurt him somehow.

_Yes. They could be right about the other things.  
But for this, the voices inside of his head didn’t have an answer._

Noctis didn’t know how much time had passed until he finally let go of his Blade, the sword disappearing into thin air. His hand fell down on the ground next to Ardyn’s head. Slowly, he managed to take in deep breaths. Ardyn sighed and nodded, lifting his hands slightly.

“Can I touch you and use some of my magic, Noctis?”

The Prince frowned but nodded, collapsing on top of Ardyn. The man gently wrapped arms around him, the air filling with little green lights in an instant.

It felt like a comforting warmth ran through him.  
Same as when Luna tried to help him after he woke up from nightmares full of monsters, when they were kids.   
He relaxed, closing his eyes - his breathing slowly returning to normal after finally, last of the flickering healing lights disappeared into night. They stayed in complete darkness.

“Do you feel better?”

The Young Prince nodded silently and leaned back, allowing the redhead to stand up and help the raven to do so too. The Prince looked around.

_Oh._

He didn’t even realize that he warped them so far away from the camp during their fight. He sighed, looking at Ardyn’s hand gently squeezing his.

“Shall we head back?”

 The raven was about to nod, when suddenly –

Creaking, a strange inhuman sound and a metallic odor filled the night. Noctis turned his head as quickly as he could. Behind his back, a black puddle was forming on the ground quickly, the large mass forming into a body.

_Shit._

Daemons.

_There was no light._

His eyes widened. Ardyn frowned and wrapped his free arm around the man, looking around, his eyes scanning their surroundings.

“Come.” He dragged Noctis in the other direction, his words coming out in a hushed whisper.

There were a few rocks and if you looked properly, they formed a small cave. Not the one where you would search for treasures but enough to hide in the shadows before danger.  Ardyn pulled Noctis closer, darkness swallowing them both.  
The Iron Giant walked past them, his heavy steps echoing in the darkness. They watched it silently, the only sound between them being their breathing. The thing disappeared into night after a few moments, but Ardyn still didn’t move an inch.

Noctis frowned slightly.

“It’s gone… isn’t it?”

“It’s making circles. I suppose you don’t really want to fight it now so I recommend to stay here for a moment.”

“… no.” Noctis mumbled silently. Ardyn was right. He didn’t feel like drawing his sword – not now. That training was a pretty bad idea after all.

_He could expect that he would get those flashbacks. But …_

“No?”

“Oh. I mean. The fight. The wait is fine.” Noctis sighed and looked down. Ardyn was still squeezing his hand gently, the other one wrapped around his arm. His hand was surprisingly warm – the absolute opposite of how his skin felt in his present time. It was supposed to be cold. Deadly…cold. But instead of that, the man felt so very much alive.

He looked the same as the ghost from Insomnia in Noctis’ memories - but was completely different after all.  
More… human.

_And speaking about the fight…_

 “I… Sorry for that.”

 “No need to apologize. It wasn’t your fault.” Ardyn shook his head. “If anyone - I should be the one to say sorry for that overwhelming story. I start to talk - and can’t stop. Valtieri might be right about me having the talent of talking people to death, oh my.”

The King obviously tried to change the topic and lighten the atmosphere a bit. And to be honest, Noctis welcomed it. He didn’t want to (and couldn’t) talk about the real reason behind it all.

Instead, Noctis chuckled silently and went with the flow. “Even for that you need some practice.”

“Let me assure you, I’ll certainly get that during long rainy days, when you hear Leviathan in your head complaining about _everything_. It can prepare you even for the worst audience with Lutea in Tenebrae.”

“It can’t be that bad. Can it?”

“They are both strong, stubborn and scary if they want to be. And they have other thing in common: they are not that fond of my humble self. The only difference is that one sleeps and can’t walk right into the Throne Room of Lucis, telling me that my reign is good for nothing.”

He raised his eyebrow – probably over some memory - and snorted.

“Just don’t tell Valtieri. I wouldn’t hear the end of it, if he found out I compared The Queen to The Leviathan.”

A silence stretched between them again, interrupted only by the sound of wind that blew into their faces. Fresh air filled their lungs.  
They both turned, looking at the land stretching into the night.   
Noctis could barely figure out it was spitting with rain due to the darkness.  
Abandoned heavy drops falling down from the sky. It was only a question of time when it would turn to a downpour.   

“We should head back.” He said silently, in the end. “Izunia and Aquila might get worried.”

Ardyn nodded and stood up but then froze in the middle of movement as if he realized something, turning back to Noctis with a frown – examining his form up and down.

“Just a moment, Noct.”

“Huh?”

The King started to fumble with the top buttons on his coat. After a while he smirked winningly, freeing the piece of expensive looking cloth from the lapels he always wore (even in the Present Lucis) and spreading it in front of Noctis.

The Prince looked at him questioningly.

“Now, if you allow me.” The Redhead leaned closer to Noct, unbuttoning lapels on other’s coat. He was so close, other could hear his heartbeat.

_Heartbeat, huh?_

Another thing that amazed him. The Redhead was just another living being.

_Well. Was there anything about Ardyn that didn’t surprise him?_

Finally, he pulled it over The Prince’s head, adjusting it so man could see.

Raven lifted his hand, gently squeezing the fabric between his fingers. It was heavy and warm, a great way to protect himself from cold. He remembered the second meeting with Ardyn, in Lestallum.  
Gods. The town was always so hot and man was wearing the whole outfit with this thing around his neck. His whole body cringed over the idea of him wearing more than his shirt and light coat back then. He was even a bit jealous of Gladio, who had no problem with running around half naked.

_Okay, fine, but memories aside.  
Why was Ardyn giving this to him now? _

“Um…”

 “We can’t have you running around in the rain and catching a cold.” As if The King could read the mind of the raven . “Besides, I figured you’ll need it more than me right now.”

He showed him his black fedora and put it on his head with a flourish.

_Of course, he would produce his hat out of literally nowhere._

“Were you hiding it in Armiger?”

“Who knows, my dear. Now, shall we? Noct.”

They stepped out of the hideout, heading to the campsite. The rain was now falling down in waves, making it a bit difficult to see and walk, the only indication that their steps were taking them the right way were the runes on haven shining in the distance. Noctis pulled the cape to his eyes, trying to stop annoying droplets of water

“Well… looks like we didn’t even have to hurry…”

Ardyn next to him chuckled softly.  
Noct looked at the picture in front of him.

Izunia and Aquila were packing the things. Noctis would expect them to rush as the rain was getting worse.

_But… no._

They were talking enthusiastically, laughing at something. Having a good time even when the weather tried so hard to interrupt them. They didn’t seem to mind the rain or them until the very last second.

“Oh… Ardyn! Noctis.” He was still grinning, his long hair falling into his eyes. “Where have you been? We’ve been worried.”

“That we can see.” Ardyn teased him playfully. “Nothing serious. We got a bit… carried away.”

_Warped away, to be more exact._

Izunia nodded, his eyes staying on Noctis for a moment as he noticed the cape – but even if he had any remarks he decided to bite them back.

“I’ve already packed things with Aquila.” The other man nodded cheerfully. “Chocobos are ready for the move too, Ardyn. We are heading for the closest shelter now, I suppose – before Fulgurian appears?”

Valtieri was back to his ‘General of army’-self, but the light tune in his voice stayed.

The Redhead nodded, taking Nova’s reigns into his hands.

“That is the plan.” He hopped on the Chocobo, fixing his hat. Noctis and others followed, gently nudging birds to move after Ardyn. “I heard about Chocobo stables in Nebulawood, so we might try our luck there. It shouldn’t be far.”

Izunia nodded.

“Let’s go.”

* * *

 

Taelpar Crag was a dark place. Daemons, strange beings crawling in the shadows of remnants of The Old War.

“Haunted,” the hunters whispered. “If he let you come out of there alive, it would make you a legend. Just like Cor the Immortal.”

_He?_

In the shine of Crystals adorning the ruins, a figure of a tall man was standing. Long sword in his hand glittering in the moonlight.

_Gilgamesh._

The monster of legends, granting whoever passed his trial a power no one ever heard of.

_Monster?_

He was. There was no denying of it. He would mercilessly kill everyone who wasn’t strong enough to prove himself to be worthy.  
But in this very moment, Gilgamesh experienced something… Strange.

Long forgotten.

As if…

_The laughter of someone very dear to him, the feeling of rain falling down to his eyes. The sensation of happiness._

His eyes widened.

_Memories. Long forgotten friends. And…_

Something that didn’t belong there. A figure he knew so well but couldn’t place to his time.

_A figure of -…_

He looked up. The moon was shining brightly, enveloping the whole of Eos in soft light.

_What are you doing, oh, Chosen one?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First things first! Thank you, [Alpaca](http://alpacaduelist.tumblr.com/), for BETAing this work even after such a long time, you are treasure and thank you, Readers, for coming back here! 
> 
> I'm very sorry for not updating this story for almost half a year. I've already said what happened under my second work (Silhouette) - long story short, I'd lost my documents for this and other stories, was demotivated and two months ago my brother managed to somehow dug the stories from my old laptop.  
> So! I am back - and I'm happy about it. I'll try to produce at least one chapter a month. By now, we are already in the middle of the story.  
> It's been a year (I didn't even realize but wow!) since this story started and... well, I'm still shocked over the response I've got from you guys. So many kudos, so many comments and nice words I got from you. I appreciate them from the bottom of my heart.
> 
> Now to the plot of this fan fiction. I know that this story and its concept has been probably set on fire by Episode Ignis & current updates and Episode Ardyn + Royal Edition will turn it into ashes. But... Yeah, I've still decided to finish it anyway. It will alter a lot, of course - names, if SE doesn't decided to name Izunia Valtieri (which I highly doubt so ;D), appeareances... So. Yeah. Let's continue this as Alternative reality, what do you think ? 
> 
> Once again. Thank you. Thank you for staying with this story. It means a lot to me. You are best!


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